Turning a New Leaf
by TheEarthbendingRavenclaw
Summary: When Pacifica's finally had enough of her parents, she runs away with Dipper, Stan, and Ford on the Stan-o-War to hunt for the paranormal. But has she made the right choice? (Eventually will be Dipcifica, but they'll be taking it slow.) (Rated T for abuse and frightening situations)
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One:

September 28th was always a big ordeal with the Northwest family, even though Pacifica would rather it not be anymore. There were many things she'd love to do for her birthday, but being surrounded by a bunch of stuffy rich people she barely even knew was not one of them. Even after loosing the majority of their fortune, the Northwest family still filled a lavish lifestyle in the country club house they'd bought after they'd lost the manor. And, inevitably, Pacifica was still trapped under her parents' thumb.

So, though she wanted nothing to do with a lavish ball, she let her hairdresser pin up her hair without a word of protest. She stared at her reflection, bored, examining the four layers of make-up plastered on her face. She looked nice, as always, but the girdle she had on under her white and rhinestone party gown made her too uncomfortable to admire her appearance. She smoothed out the satin of her gown as she frowned in confusion. Her mother had always had a thing against white dresses; "only for babies and brides" she always said. Yet she insisted on Pacifica wearing said gown to tonight's ball, so she didn't argue or question. She'd learned years ago as a little girl what would happen if she showed even the slightest sign of rebellion.

"There we go," the hairdresser finally said as he stepped back to examine his work. "You look fabulous, hon!"

Pacifica looked herself over in the mirror one more time. "Thanks, Benny."

"Always a pleasure. Give me a ring for your next party!"

Pacifica grinned. "Always." She slipped her white gloves on up to her elbow, and put on her diamond choker, bracelet, and earrings before going downstairs to her parents.

Priscilla and Preston were busy micromanaging the décor, and table placements, and flower arrangements, and everything else when she came down.

"Mom? Dad?"

No answer, the older couple simply went about their business. Pacifica sighed and moved off to a corner to wait until one of the noticed. Minutes ticked by, and still not even a glance in her direction. Pacifica tugged her gloves higher up her arm, and picked fuzz off the fingers.

Priscilla finally noticed her daughter leaning against the wall.

"Pacifica!" she shouted, causing the young woman to jump. "Stop slouching, and straighten up!"

Pacifica quickly obligated, and shuffled to her mother's side. Priscilla looked her over, up and down, then twirled her finger to indicate Pacifica to turn. Pacifica obligated, and Priscilla nodded in approval.

"Lovely," she smiled. "Quite lovely."

Pacifica nodded and went back to her corner, but made sure not to slouch again, or suffer her mother's wrath again. She sighed again and began rocking on her heels as she glanced at the elaborate grandfather clock at the back of the room. 6 hours. All she had to do was last 6 hours and she'd be done with another lousy ball.

About an hour later, Pacifica was fake smiling, greeting gusts, and accepting birthday gifts, only to had them to a servant so they could be placed on a table.

"Announcing, Martin and Julia Stonebeau, and their son, Zachary Stonebeau."

Pacifica sighed as she put on her smile again, and held out her hand to the handsome, blond, young man in the white tux who was striding towards her.

"A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Stonebeau," Pacifica extended her hand to shake. To her shock, he turned her hand over and kissed it.

"An _absolute_ pleasure to meet you, beautiful," he replied. Pacifica felt her stomach turn over a little bit as she gently took her hand back.

"Well, I'm glad to here that," she answered awkwardly as she smoothed out some wrinkles in her dress.

"You look ravishing in white," Zachary commented, taking a few steps closer to her.

"Thank you," Pacifica whispered uncomfortably.

"I imagine you are an amazing dancer."

"I'm decent."

"Oh, I don't believe that," their foreheads were almost touching now. Pacifica glanced at her parents, hoping to get some support, but instead found that they were watching the two with keen interest. Almost too keen.

"Shall we find out?" Zachary offered his hand to her. Pacifica glanced at her parents again, begging for help, but instead her father just said:

"Go on, Pacifica."

Shocked by her parents apparent indifference, Pacifica felt a bit lost. Not knowing what else to do, Pacifica unhappily accepted Zachary had and let him lead her onto the dance floor. He gave her smile that made her skin crawl as he set his hand on her waist and they began to step in sway with the music.

"You are an amazing dancer," Zachary said after only a few steps.

"Thank you."

"I imagine you are better at many other things."

"You're too kind."

"Well, isn't it the man's job to compliment his woman?"

Pacifica's skin crawled again, and she felt a flicker of offense through her body. She gave Zachary a warning glare as she answered through clenched teeth;

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"Oh, come now, dearie, let's not play hard to get."

"I'm not playing hard to get," Pacifica answered as took a step back, still glaring at him. "I really don't know what you are talking about."

Zachary smiled again, and pulled her back into the dancing embrace. "Well, let me lay it out for you."

He twirled her as he began explaining.

"Have you ever heard of Eugenics?"

"Eugenics?"

"Eugenics is the idea that good blood can only come out of good blood."

"Good blood meaning…?"

"Respectable people. Successful people. The one percent."

"Us?" Pacifica inquired in a shaky voice, afraid of where this was going.

"Precisely," Zachary answered excitedly. "So, you see, the only way our people can survive is if we keep our bloodlines pure."

Pacifica pulled away again. "What are you suggesting?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Zachary grinned creepily as he bent down on one knee and pulled out a ring box. He opened it and took in a breath to speak.

"Pacifica-"

"No!" Pacifica felt sick. Cheap! Just a blood purifier? Was that all she was? She turned to storm off, but slammed into her father's arms.

"Now, now, honey," Preston said as he turned Pacifica around and pushed her back towards Zachary. "Let's not be hasty. Zachary is a good man from a good family, who has plenty of money to take care of us-I mean-you with."

"Wait," Pacifica felt her stomach dropped. "You knew about this?"

"Of course," Priscilla said as she walked up to her husband's side. "We told you you're birthday from us would be special."

"Birthday gift!?" Pacifica screeched. "An arranged marriage!?"

"We even helped him pick out the ring."

"You're impossible!" Pacifica shrieked as she broke free from her father and raced out of the ballroom, and up the stairs, into her room, her parents following after her.

"What the heck is wrong with you!?" Pacifica screamed when they were in her room. "You didn't even think about at least running this by me once before springing it on me?"

"We were afraid you'd say no," Priscilla explained.

"Well, you had good reason to be! Because I'm not marrying him!"

"Yes. You. Are." Preston ordered in a stony cold voice, his eyes ablaze with anger.

"I don't even know him!"

"He's rich, that's all you need to know."

"No, it's not!" Pacifica couldn't believe what she was hearing. Did they not care? Did they not want her to find love and be happy? Was money all they cared about?

"Pacifica Elise Northwest! We lost a good portion of a fortune in the weirdpocalypse, and we haven't been able to get back. This could be our chance."

"Not my problem!"

"Yes, it is your problem, because you are a part of this family!"

"Maybe I don't want to be anymore?"

 _SMACK!_

Pacifica fell back against her bed, holding a gloved hand to her bloodied nose.

"Don't ever disrespect the Northwest family name like that ever again! Your little scene back there was bad enough, it's gonna take a while to remove that blemish from our reputation."

Pacifica choked back a sob. They didn't care! They were really doing this. They were throwing her away like a piece of furniture to regain their money and reputation.

"Now, you're going to back down there, and you're going to accept Zachary's proposal."

"No, I'm not!" Pacifica turned around and angrily faced her father. "I'm not going to-"

 _SMACK!_ Pacifica's head swirled as she tumbled off the bed and clutched her throbbing forehead.

"Oh, Preston. She can't go down now, she's bloodied the dress!"

Preston sighed. "I guess we'll just tell everyone she was taken off guard and needs to think things over. She'll accept the proposal in the morning." The two turned to walk off, when Pacifica jumped to her feet.

"I'm just now 18! I'm too young to marry!"

"Nonsense, you little brat!" Preston shouted. "Plenty of people get married at 18."

"But not me! I'm not ready!"

"Then get ready! And clean off that dress!"

Pacifica was shaking with anger and shock. "You hate me! I didn't want to believe it, but you do, you really hate me!"

"We're only doing what's best for you, sweetie," Priscilla answered.

"No, this is what's best for you!"

"ENOUGH!" Preston pushed Pacifica back, and she fell onto the bed and she flipped over and crashed into the floor on the other side. "Enjoy your last single night, you'll be an engaged woman tomorrow."

The door slammed shut as Pacifica clutched her head, trying to stop the swirling around in her brain from the thrashing around and gut-wrenching announcement she was being forced into an unwanted marriage.

"Come on," Pacifica though to her herself. "Think. Think. Think. There's got to be a way out of this."

Standing to her feet she took of her now red gloves and began undoing her dress. After she'd gotten it out she held it out and sated at it.

White.

"White is only for babies and brides."

Brides.

Her parents had bought this dress specifically to advertise her as a good marriage buy. They had dressed her up so they could sell her off like some work of art.

"Clean off that dress" her father had told her.

Rage boiling inside her, Pacifica flipped the gown over, grabbed either side of the skirt, and ripped the dress in half. She then used the white satin to wipe the blood off her face. Throwing the bloody gown out the window so it would litter the pristinely kept lawn, she slipped into her bathroom and turned on the shower, washing the stickiness of blood and tears away.

The weight of the night's news began to weigh on her as she leaned back against the shower wall. "There's got to be a way out of this."

Running her fingers through her soaked hair, she tried to think. There had to be somewhere she could go, or someone she could talk to that might have ideas. But who in this backwards town would-

Then it hit her, the story she'd read in the newspaper a few mornings back.

"Mabel Pines, one half of the daring Pines Mystery Twins Team, has moved to Gravity Falls permanently to set up the headquarters for her school supplies and children's clothing design company."

Mabel. Pacifica hadn't seen her in almost a year, and hadn't seen the other half of the Mystery Twins team, Dipper, in two years. But, if anyone could come up with a crazy solution to a crazy problem, it was the Pines.

Pacifica turned off the water, stepped out of the shower, and began to dry off. She didn't know where Mabel was staying, that was the problem. That old Mystery Shack was a good place to start looking, though. The Pines' old friend Soos Ramirez and his grandmother were still living there. They'd probably know where Mabel was at.

Slipping into some jeans and a hoodie, Pacifica climbed down the greenery under her window, a skill she'd mastered the minute they had moved into the Country Club House years ago so she could have a bit of fun every now and then without her parent's micromanagement.

Shivering in the cold, she began the short hike to the Mystery Shack.

 **AN: Hi Guys! So, yeah, if you haven't guessed, this is five years later, and Mabel is getting ready to set up a Lisa Frank like company. I thought that would fit her best in the future, since she's a quirky creative person. As for Dipper, well if you read my Maury Show parody, you already know what he's doing. If not, you'll see next chapter. See you then! And "Stonebeau" is a parody of "Rockafeller." Stone=Rock Beau=Feller. Get it? No? *Ahem* Moving on.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two:

The looming shape of the Mystery Shack appeared in the night sky as Pacifica, shaking because of her wet hair in the nippy fall air. Picking up the pace, she rushed to the front door and knocked. Standing on the front porch, she could hear loud music, and saw the glowing light of the television through the window. The door creaked open, and a chuckling Soos opened the door.

"…you and me! Let's go!" someone yelled from inside the house as Soos laughed and turned to see who was at the door.

"Oh, hey, Pacifica," he said cheerily. "Come on in."

Pacifica stepped in, glad to be out of the biting autumn wind.

"The party that's way," Soos pointed to the indicated area. "I'll be in when I get the snacks."

Pacifica nodded and walked towards the living room. As she stepped in, she saw two older men sitting on the couch, cheering while Mable, clearly identifiable by her glitter-stained, custom made cardigan, and matching headband, playing a dance video game with a tall, lean young man. Soos grandmother and girlfriend, Melody, were sitting on the love seats, enjoying the antics. Pacifica smiled at the energized scene, momentarily forgetting her situation for a few moments. Soos came down the hall carrying a tray filled with junk food and sodas.

"Hey, dudes, look who came to visit!" he called as he patted Pacifica on the back and ushered into the room.

"Pacifica!" Mabel squealed as she tossed the remote aside, hitting her young dance partner in the face by accident, and tackled Pacifica in a bear hug.

"I missed your face!" she cried as the others gathered around her. She released Pacifica and then gasped in horror. "Oh my gosh, what happened to your face!"

The crazy, fun, energy of the room disappeared as Pacifica placed a hand to her face, wincing wen her fingers brushed the bruises.

"Wow. Didn't see that in the dark. What happened dude?" Soos asked.

"I…had a fight with my parents-"

"They hit you!?" Mabel gasped.

"Yeah," Pacifica nodded.

"What on earth were you fighting over?"

Pacifica sighed. "That's actually what I'm here for."

"Well, sit down, dude," Soos ushered Pacifica to the couch. "Real quick, you already know everyone here, but it's been a while. You already know Mabel. Here we have Stan and Ford."

Pacifica turned to the two elderly men who had previously been sitting on the couch, each extending a hand to shake.

"Good to see again, kid," Stan said.

"Pleasure to meet you again," Ford followed his brother.

"And then we have Melody," A pretty young woman with curly brown hair shook her hand.

"And this is mi Abuelita."

"I go to find tissues now," the elderly woman shuffled off down the hall.

"And, last but not least, we have-"

Pacifica turned to the last person in the room, the young man who had been dancing with Mabel. He was very tall, taller than everyone else in the room. He had a trim figure, with lean muscles peaking out from under his t-shirt, and swooping brown hair that partially covered a strange birthmark.

"Dipper?" Pacifica asked.

"Hey," the young man and question leaned down to give his old friend a hug.

"Oh, my, goodness!" Pacifica gasped. "You've grown!"

"You haven't," Dipper replied as Pacifica sat back down. "You look just like you did 2 years ago."

"Don't patronize me," Pacifica glared, she was self-conscious about how she still looked like a fourteen year old.

"I'm not," Dipper answered. "You look good. Aside from the bruises that is."

Pacifica hung her head. "Yeah, about those."

Everyone gathered around the couch as Pacifica began to speak.

"My parents are trying to force me to marry a man I've just met."

Mabel gasped in the most dramatic way possible. "Why would they do something so evil? WHY THE EVIL!"

"He's a rich guy, who can give my parents their wealth back. And…yeah, that's about it. So, I said no, and I got slapped around, and I'm gonna be engaged by tomorrow morning."

A foreboding silence fell over the room. Pacifica looked around at the faces surrounding her, all frowning in shock and pondering. Dipper began scratching the back of his head, his eyebrows pinching together, but not responding. Pacifica felt tears stinging her eyes.

"Guys, what do I do? I don't want to be married! I don't want to spend the rest of my life as some rich boy's pet! How do I-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Dipper assured her. "We'll figure this out, just give us a minute to think."

Dipper plopped on the floor, propping his elbows on his knees so her could rest his chin in his hands. Everyone else around her pondered her ordeal. Pacifica drew her knees to her chest, thinking herself, just trying to find an escape.

"How old are you?" Dipper asked.

"18 today."

"Then it's simple," Dipper said standing up. "You run away."

Pacifica sniffed. "Where to?"

"With us."

"What?" both Stan and Ford asked.

"C'mon, guys, we've been saying we need another pair of hands for a while."

"Yeah, but we didn't mean hers," Stan exclaimed.

"Come on, Stan, if you could teach me, why can't you teach her?"

"Because you actually wanted to learn."

"How do you know she won't?"

"She's in the 1%, they never listen."

"Stan!"

"Hey, way not ask 1% girl in question?"

Dipper turned and looked to Pacifica to begin explaining. "Here's the thing. Stan, Ford, and I live on a boat, and travel around the world looking for paranormal creatures, evidence, etc. We've been looking for a fourth member to add to our team before we go to our next location in Mexico. Since we haven't filled the position, you can take it. So you'll run away with us to get away from your parents, and they can't force you into marriage."

Pacifica thought over the proposal. It would get her out of this situation. That's exactly what she came for.

"Hmm." Ford rubbed his chin. "That would solve the issue at hand. And I suppose anyone can learn to hunt the paranormal."

"Are you serious?" Stan asked.

"Come on, Stan, if we can become world renowned paranormal experts, why can't Pacifica."

"What part of being in the 1% do you not get?"

"So…" Pacifica cut in. "What would I be signing on for?"

"Well, you'd be living on the boat, hotels, and RV's. You won't be working a consistent schedule, and you'll run into all kids of creepy stuff," Dipper explained.

Pacifica gulped. That didn't sound too fun…

"But it's actually kind of fun once you get used to it. You'll get to see the world. We don't work consistent hours, but the work itself isn't so bad. And since we've got a University sponsoring us now, the pay is pretty decent."

Pacifica nodded.

"There will be a bit of red tape we'd have to jump through," Ford explained. "When you run away, inevitably your parents are going to report you missing. Now, since you're 18, they can't force you to come home, but you'll have to go to the police station and explain the situation so the Missing Persons case will be closed. But after that you'd be free."

Pacifica nodded again.

"Of course, it's up to you," Dipper continued. "It's a pretty big jump from where you are now, so if you-"

"I'll do it."

Dipper looked surprised. "What?"

"I'll do it," Pacifica nodded.

"Great," Stan murmured under his breath.

"Behave yourself!" Ford scolded. "Alright, I'll need to formulate a plan of action, shouldn't take more than an hour, give me a minute."

"Oh, here we go," Stan groaned. "Someone get me some earplugs so I don't have to listen to him mutter over all his overcomplicated equations!"

Pacifica smiled and nodded. She then stood up, and went out to the porch to wrap her mind around what she'd just signed onto. She was going to runaway. She was really going to runaway. Of course she'd thought about it before, there were very few people who hadn't thought about running away, but she was doing it for real. She was going to leave everything behind. She couldn't live on her parents. She'd have to work.

Work? As awful as it was, she hadn't worked a day in her life! She didn't know how to work. She'd have to learn for Stan, Ford, and Dipper. This was going to suck…but so would an unwanted marriage to a stranger.

The front door creaked open. Pacifica turned to find Dipper stepping out with a blanket in his hand.

"Here's, it's cold."

"Thanks," Pacifica wrapped the blanket around her shoulders.

"I'm sorry this is happening to you," Dipper said. "But we're gonna get you out of it, don't worry."

"Thank you," Pacifica said, turning to him. She had to remind herself to look up when she realized her original line of vision only reached his shoulder. "Really, thank you."

"Don't worry about it," Dipper shrugged.

Pacifica tightened the blanket around her shoulders, shivering, but not necessarily from the cold.

"This is crazy," Pacifica mumbled. "What we're doing."

"You came to the Pines, what did you expect?" Dipper smirked.

Pacifica chuckled nervously. "Yeah, I know."

"Hey," Dipper turned serious. "We'll take care of you. It'll be rough for a while, getting used to the travelling, paranormal investigator life, I won't lie. But Grunkle Stan, Grunkle Ford, and I, we'll take care of you. The minute you step foot on that boat, you're one of us."

Pacifica smiled. "Thank you so much, I don't know what I'd do now if it wasn't for you."

"Don't worry about it."

Pacifica leaned against the wall and stared up at the stars, Dipper standing next to her in silence.

"I really am crazy," she sighed.

"Welcome to the club."

They sat in silence a while longer, until Stan poked his head out the door.

"Hey, my control-freak brother has his game plan together, come and see it so he'll stop going on about it."

He closed the door and walked back in. Pacifica winced as the door banged shut.

"He doesn't sound too happy about me coming along."

"Eh, that's just Stan. You'll get used to him," Dipper held the door open for Pacifica, and then followed her inside.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three:

Pacifica watched cautiously as a housekeeper passed by her in the hall. In order to pull this off, no one could be in the hall with her. Once the housekeeper had turned the corner, Pacifica glanced about one more time to make sure she was alone. She then opened the hallway closet and stepped in. She turned down the light and made her way to the safe in the back.

She pulled the special spray Ford had given her earlier. As she tried to pull it out, her massive engagement ring got caught on her pocket. Grumbling aggregately she unhooked herself. She gave three good shot of it on the number pad. She then pulled out a little flashlight and shined it on the pad. Fingerprints shined bright green under the light. Snapping a picture with her phone, she put the spray and flashlight away.

She peaked out of the cracks in the closet to make sure no one was coming down the hall and slipped out. Checking herself in a hallway mirror to make sure she looked normal, she moved to the living room where her parents were lounging about.

"I'm going out to pick up some more bridal magazines."

"Darling, haven't you bought enough magazines?" Priscilla asked.

Pacifica felt her heart skipped a beat, but she maintained a calm face, and shrugged nonchalantly. "I still haven't found anything I like yet."

Priscilla grinned. "So particular, you are. Alright, have fun."

Sighing in relief, Pacifica climbed into her car and went to the local supermarket. Since her parents had put a tracking app on her phone, she couldn't just go wherever she wanted. So the meet-up place for her and the Pines had become the supermarkets; the magazine rack to be precise. Trying to look nonchalant as possible, she picked up a bridal magazine and flipped through the pages.

"Mind if I squeeze past you," a familiar voice called as Ford pushed passed Pacifica and picked up a science magazine.

Both parties reading their respective pamphlets, Pacifica carefully slipped her phone with the picture pulled up into Ford's six fingers. Ford glanced at the picture a few times, then gave it back to her. He pulled out a note pad and pen, scribbled a number code on it. He slipped it into her pocket, never taking his eyes off his magazines.

"Make sure you test it as soon as possible, but don't take anything yet. You don't want to raise suspicion."

"Okay," Pacifica said as she took another magazine off the rack.

"I'll be back here tomorrow between 10 and 2 incase the code didn't work. If you don't show up, that will tell me I got it right."

Pacifica nodded again, flipping through just a regular magazine, deciding she could claim she was looking for color schemes. Setting it in the buggy with the other two, she pushed it towards check out.

One week after obtaining the code, Pacifica sat up in her room on her bed, twirling the gigantic ring on her finger with the name "Stonebeau" carved into the side.

Tonight. Tonight she'd get to take this ring off. Though it was very lavish, it wasn't pretty; Just one gigantic rock on a thin white gold band. It completely ate her hand, making it impossible for her to do anything.

A knock came at the door. Pacifica jumped, walked to the door, and opened it. A grinning Priscilla stood at the door.

"Get a good night sleep!" Priscilla grinned. "We're going wedding dress shopping tomorrow."

"I know," Pacifica grinned.

"Then get to bed," Priscilla patted the top of her head, and waltzed out. Pacifica watched her go, her heart tightening. Despite all of their differences, she was her mother, the one who had given birth to you.

"Love you," Pacifica called after her.

"You too," Priscilla yelled back as she dismounted the stairs. Pacifica listened to her mother's footsteps until they disappeared.

"I'm sorry," she whispered as she slipped back into her room and locked the door. She slipped in a sports bra, long-sleeve t-shirt, and sweat pants as she climbed under the blankets, remembering the advice Ford had given her the last time she'd spoken to him.

"Be sure to get some rest, you'll need it since you'll have a long night."

Pacifica set the alarm on her phone to 1:30 AM. Cutting out the lights she snuggled under the covers, but she couldn't shut her eyes. This was the last time she'd sleep in this bed. In this house. With her parents. In the home she'd had since she was 12. In the only life she'd ever known. In a few hours she'd be sleeping on a boat, on her new life. Despite her worries, somehow, someway, she fell asleep.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Pacifica jumped out of her bed and cut off the alarm. She stared at her phone for a while, hesitating to lay it back down. It was silly really, after all it was just a phone, but it was still hard to leave. It was a needed sacrifice, though, she needed a new number so her parents couldn't find her in her new life.

Pacifica pulled out the list Ford had provided her with earlier. At this early hour no one would be awake, but she had to be quiet as to not to wake anyone. Pulling a flashlight out of her nightstand, and taking a pocket file out from under her bed. She snuck to the safe in the hallway, she punched in the code Ford had given her, and stepped inside.

Using the flashlight, she found a file cabinet drawer labeled "Pacifica." Pulling it open, she flipped through the papers, she pulled out files; her birth certificate, social security card, high school diploma, passport, and a folder labeled "Medical." She slipped all of the papers into her pocket file, closed the file cabinet and the safe door back. She snuck back to her room, and placed the pocket folder into a backpack.

She then quietly moved to dresser, and began to pull out seven summer outfits, and seven winter outfits. They were specific, jeans, t-shirts, and sweaters. Work clothes. It took her a while to find such clothes in the lavish wardrobe of brand names she had been drowned in her whole life, but she somehow did. She then placed a pair of hiking boots she'd only worn once on a family vacation, but now they'd become useful. She stuffed underwear, a pair of flip-flops, a bathing suit, and socks into the backpack, along with three sheet sets, a winter coat, and whatever hoodies would fit into the backpack.

She zipped up the backpack, slipped on her tennis shoes, and swung the backpack on her back. She climbed out the window and made her way down to the lawn. Glancing about to make sure she hadn't been caught, she rushed off the property and onto the road leading to downtown Gravity Falls. The cold, early morning air nipped at what little skin was exposed as she made her march to Lazy Susan's Diner, the only 24 hours joint in the town. Fear gripped her entire body as she picked up the pace, afraid she'd change her mind if she took long making it to the diner.

 _This is the only way out,_ she reminded herself. _Finally make a decision for yourself instead of being scared of your parents!_

The eerily darkened Main Street only added to her shaking as she followed the glowing light of Lazy Susan's and opened the door. The three Pines men were already waiting for her, sipping coffee and eating pie. At the sound of the bell ringing, they all turned.

"'Bout time!" Stan exclaimed. "We were wondering if you were going to make it."

Dipper stood up and walked towards her. "You doing alright?"

Pacifica nodded. "As I'll ever be."

Dipper smiled comfortingly at her and set a hand on her shoulder. "You want a bite to eat before we head out?"

"No, let's get out of here before someone catches on!"

"Alright, alright," Dipper patted her shoulder, before turning towards the two older men. "Grunkles?"

Ford and Stan stood up, and began to make their way to the door. Stan stopped by the front counter, and slipped a couple of twenties to Lazy Susan who was wiping the counter down.

"Remember, Doll, not a word," he winked at her.

"You got it, handsome!" The waitress grinned, before setting up a coffee pot. Pacifica took a deep breath as she stepped out of the diner and followed the three men to Stan's old station wagon.

 _No going back now,_ she thought to herself as she slipped into the back seat with Dipper and they began driving off.

"You doing alright?" Dipper asked.

Pacifica nodded, too many thoughts floating around her head as she hugged her backpack to her chest.

"You sure?"

She nodded again. Dipper set another comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, you're doing the right thing."

"I know," Pacifica finally whispered.

"It's okay to be scared."

"Northwests don't get scared," Pacifica sniffed.

"Keep telling yourself that, kid," Stan sneered from the driver's seat.

"Fear is a natural human response, Pacifica," Ford added. "There's no reason to be ashamed of it."

Pacifica hugged her backpack tighter. What did they know? She was leaving everything she'd ever known behind, and all they wanted to do was talk about feelings. She didn't have any feelings. She just wanted to get on that boat…but at the same time she didn't. She was…she was…

"Well, maybe I'm a little scared."

Dipper gave her shoulder a soft squeeze. "It's alright. I know this is difficult, but you'll be okay."

"We're here!" Stan announced as he parked the car. Pacifica slid out of the backseat and onto the Gravity Falls dock. Soos and Melody were waiting by Soos' truck near the docks. At seeing the three Pines men and Pacifica, Soos began to walk towards them. Stan tossed him the keys to the station wagon.

"You know the drill, don't wreck her!"

"Sure thing, Mr. Pines," the two men hugged, and Soos moved to also hug Ford and Dipper. He stopped in front of Pacifica and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Keep your chin up, dude. You're in good hands." He squeezed her in a bone-crushing hug, then waved as he slipped into the station wagon, and drove off, Melody driving the truck behind him. Pacifica watched them drive off, and her stomach dropped.

 _No turning back._

"Come on, kid, time to move in," Stan called as he hopped onto the boat, and put down the walk-ramp. It looked a lot better than she expected. Granted, it was no cruise ship, but seemed to be a sturdy yacht. She stopped just before the ramp, and took a deep breath, before taking her first step.

Ford and Dipper followed her, Dipper pulled the ramp off as Stan turned on the engine and sailed off.

Pacifica's insides turned numb as she set her backpack down, and watched the Gravity Falls dock disappear as the Stan-o-War sailed off down the river, towards the ocean.

Dipper's hand landed on her shoulder for the third time that night. "Hey, let me show you your room."

Pacifica picked her backpack back up and followed Dipper into the interior part of the main deck. They walked through a living area with two couches and a flat-screen TV and coffee table. Passing by a kitchen into a dining area, and down a staircase to the lower deck. It was pitch black below deck, until Dipper turned on a dim light to reveal a narrow hallway that resembled something out of a horror movie. Pacifica shivered at the sight. Dipper slipped the backpack off Pacifica's back, and hung it over his arm as he pointed over his shoulder.

"That's Stan's room," he said as he began to walk Pacifica down the hall. "Ford's is at the other end of the hall. This," Dipper stopped where two doors in the middle of the hall faced across from one another, and patted on door that had a Ghost Harassers poster on the front of it.

"This is my room, and this," Dipper opened the door across from his. "This is yours."

Dipper pushed the door open, and then stood back and motioned for Pacifica to go in first. Pacifica stepped in, it was less than half the size of her old room. There was one twin sized bed, a nightstand, and a dresser. The walls and floors were white, and a plain black bedspread. It was very sterile looking, and it made her feel cold somehow.

"Here you have a closet," Dipper opened the indicated door. "And a bathroom with a shower, and a great view of, well, mostly sea foam," Dipper patted the porthole. "It's not a 5-star hotel, but it's warm and dry…for the most part. I know its plain now, but we can spruce it up later."

Pacifica gave a small smile and nodded.

"You saw the kitchen, dining, and living coming down. The office is behind the dining area. It's got all our notes, cameras, and other equipment. The outside main deck has an outside eating area, and the sun deck has an outdoor lounge, and the control room, and a jet-ski. There's also a cabinet where we keep all the scuba and swim gear."

Pacifica nodded again, smiling some more.

"So, that's pretty much the tour, is there anything else…oh, yeah!" Dipper moved to the nightstand and opened the draw. "Here's your new phone." He pulled it out and handed it to her. "Sorry, it's an edition lower than your old one was, but it's all we could get on short notice."

Pacifica took it. It was an older edition, but it was in her favorite color, pink. She gave a small smirk.

"Well, at least you got the color right," she sniffed.

"Sure thing," Dipper said. "You need anything else?"

Pacifica shook her head. "No, I just wanna sleep now."

"Okay," Dipper set her backpack by the door and stepped towards the hall. "Welcome to the team," he said as he closed the door behind him.

Pacifica stood still, alone in the room, as she thought over everything. She did it. She really did it. She'd just walked away from everything and into a strange world she had no understanding of. The weight of what she'd just done fell on her and she felt utterly, and totally exhausted. Dropping to her knees, she opened her backpack and pulled out a set of sheets. Pulling back the bedspread, unfolded the sheet and stared at it.

So, just put the corners over the corners of the bed, seemed easy enough. Pacifica set one corner in place, then moved to set another corner. The first corner popped off. Pacifica put it back, then moved to set the second one in place. The same thing happened. Pacifica frowned, and tried to do the other end. The same thing happened. Pacifica growled, this wasn't getting off to a good start. Frustrated, she tossed the sheet aside and just collapsed on the bed. She pulled the covers over herself and buried her face in the pillow. Tears began to sting the corner of her eyes, but she wasn't entirely sure why. Yeah, she was, but she didn't want to face it. Not now. She blinked them back, and collapsed into a deep sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four:

Pacifica opened her eyes as her head spun. She frowned, confused as she sat up and found herself in a strange room with whit walls, white floors, and a small, circular, window that stared into water. The events of earlier that morning flooded back as she groaned and collapsed against the bed, that was scratchy because there was no sheet on it.

"What am I doing?" she groaned as she ran a hand over her face. Staring at the ceiling as she felt the boat swaying back and forth in the river, or ocean, wherever they were. Pushing the blankets back she slipped out of the bed, swaying a bit as she tried to gain her balance on the rocking boat. Having gained her footing, she made her way to the bathroom. There was a shower, a toilet, and sink, and a window cabinet above the sink. Making her way to the sink she looked at herself in the mirror, and shuddered. She looked awful; blotchy skin, bags under the eyes, a line of dried drool on her chin. Opening the cabinet, she found a toothbrush, some toothpaste, floss, razors, a can of shaving cream ( the wrong place, Pacifica sniffed as she remembered she was the only woman on the ship), wet wipes, a hair brush, a clear plastic bag of ponytail-holders, a stack of wash rags, two large boxes of feminine supplies (Pacifica DEARLY hoped either Melody or Mabel had bought those, and a gold, folder looking thing.

Curious, she took the folder out and opened it. It was make-up. It had a large circle of powder foundation and two medium circles of blush (one light pink, and one brighter shade of pink). Underneath the foundation and blush there were twelve colors of eye-shadow; green, blue, gray, red, black, purple, pink, brown, yellow, bronze, and two small circles of glitter (Pacifica began to believe that this palette had been bought by Mabel.) Underneath the eye shadow were six lip gloss colors ranging from pale pink to bright red.

Pacifica ran her hand over the side of the palette and found a tab. Tugging on it, she opened a small drawer that had a powder sponge, a tiny blush brush, three eye-shadow applicators, two gloss brushes, an eye-liner pencil, and two mascaras; one the regular black, and the other silver glitter (yup, Mabel.)

Pacifica looked the palette over again. It looked like it was a cheap make-up kit from a general department store, but it was something. Setting the pallet back, Pacifica took a wash rag, held it under the faucet, and turned the sink on. The water pressure was very weak, and it took a while to wet the rag. Grumbling after it had finished, she wiped her face down, the dried it off with another rag, brushed her hair, and did her make-up the best she could with the palette.

The foundation was slightly lighter than her skin tone, the lip-gloss took a while to smooth out, and the mascara was already clunky (and, despite the advertising, did have some glitter in it. This was SO Mabel's doing!) Examining herself in the mirror as she brushed her hair, she sighed. She looked decent, at least, but not exactly attractive. Putting the hair brush back, she went back to her room, took a fresh shirt and pair of jeans out of her back pack and changed. She then began to unpack her clothes and put them in the dressers. She took out the pocket folder. She was not sure what to do with the documents, and decided to find one of the three men on the ship to ask. Sliding her backpack under her bed, she opened the door and walked out.

It took her a while to remember which end of the hall the staircase was located at, but she found it and walked up into the dining area. There was nobody in it, but she could hear the sound of typing coming from behind the kitchen. Following the noise, she found a small door next to the refrigerator. Opening it, she found herself in a tiny office that had four desks crammed into it. One was starch clean, except for a couple of flower stickers decoration the sides, with one giant, cursive "P" sticker in the middle. Mable's handiwork no doubt.

Pacifica set a hand on the desk, knowing it was meant for her, and felt the corner of her mouth curl into a smile. The other three desk had all kinds of clutter, and Pacifica could tell from the mess which desk belonged to which man. The one with all the lady bobble-heads from various countries and vacation magazines was Stan's. The one piled with books (both regular and comic) was Dippers. And the last one with stacks upon stacks of charts and logs was Ford. Ford's desk was the easiest to figure out because the owner was seated in front of it, hurriedly typing on some laptop. Apparently that extra digit did come in handy every now and then.

"Ahem," Pacifica cleared her throat, and Ford turned to her.

"Oh, good morning, Pacifica."

"Morning, um, what am I supposed to do with-"

"Oh, put them in this safe," Ford turned his chair around and patted a safe between his and Stan's desks. Pacifica walked forward, and Ford pointed the a yellow sticker on the top of the safe.

"This is the code. And don't worry. I made this safe myself. It's fire, water, bullet, lightning, ghost, and gamma-ray proof. It's also got a GPS tracker installed it so we can always keep track of it, as well as an emergency lock-down function that can be activated by a simple text to the access code from any smartphone saying "danger.""

"Well, you're certainly prepared," Pacifica chuckled as she punched in the code, opened the safe, and slipped the pocket folder in.

"Have to be in this field," Ford answered as Pacifica closed the safe back up. She felt a pinch of nervousness creep into her stomach at Ford's comment, but shook it off.

"So, what's for breakfast?"

"Breakfast foods are on the top shelf of the cabinet next to the fridge, help yourself."

Pacifica slipped back into the kitchen and opened up the cabinet. She wasn't too impressed by what she saw.

"We've got cereal, pop-tarts, instant oatmeal, fruit, mini muffins, there's some toaster waffles in the freezer, and eggs in the fridge if you wanna cook those up. There should still be some coffee made unless Stan polished the last of it off if you want any of that. Dipper knows where all the fixings are. Stan and I just take ours black. Or, if you're not a coffee person, we've got milk and orange juice."

Pacifica found a box of strawberry pop-tarts that looked some-what appetizing and took a pack. She soon found the coffee pot, and there was about a cup left. She poured herself a glass, and began to look around for the cream and sugar. She wasn't able to find any creamers, but did find some sugar, and put about two spoon fulls in her cup.

"So, where are the others?"

"Dipper's probably reading in his room," Ford answered from the office. "No telling what Stan's up to, but he's probably on the sundeck lounge. Proceed that way with caution though, he likes to go in his boxers in the morning."

Pacifica shuddered at the thought of Stan sprawled out in nothing but undershorts, and instead took a seat at the dining room table to eat her meal.

"So, what are you up to?"

"Oh, just chatting with the Dean of Paranormal Studies and Lonegate University."

"Is that the university sponsoring you?"

"Yep, down in good ol' Maryland."

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, just getting some last minute instructions before we head out to Mexico."

"What kind of instruction?"

"What sort of creatures they want us to find evidence for, and such. Oh, and by the way, there's a bit of paperwork we'll need you to fill out before you can officially be a part of the team."

Pacifica groaned. "How much."

"Unfortunately, quite a bit," Ford came out of the office with a folder overflowing with papers and set them on the table in front of her. Pacifica's eyes bulged at the sight.

"We're not going anywhere today, so, take you time," Ford said as he retreated back into the office.

Pacifica let her head smack into the table.

Four hours later Pacifica finished signing the last of the stack, and let out a sigh of relief. She began to make her way towards the office where Ford was still working, when she heard someone coming up the stairs. Dipper appeared in the living room wearing a tank-top and basketball shorts. Pacifica blinked when she saw him. Since when had he gotten such well-define biceps?

"Oh, hey, Pacifica," Dipper waved as he moved to the kitchen and began rummaging through the fridge and cabinets. Gathering up the documents, Pacifica headed towards the office. She handed them to Ford, and then turned to leave, but bumped into Dipper, who was now munching out of a bag of Cheetos.

"Oh, sorry," he said as he stepped aside and let her exit. Pacifica hustled past him and headed downstairs. She slipped into her room and lied down on the bed.

Now what? She just stared at the ceiling as the boat swayed back and forth, thinking over everything that had happened in the past 24 hours. Her hands stung from paper cuts, she'd felt dizzy all day because of the motion of the ship, and she still couldn't put a sheet on her bed, and she was hungry! Clutching her growling stomach, she got up again and headed back to the kitchen. She rummaged through the fridge and cabinets, looking for something edible. In the fridge, she found a microwave dinner of country-fried steak, and mashed potatoes. That sounded alright, and easy to fix. She followed the instructions on the box and set the appropriate time on the microwave, and waited.

"…so this is the route we're taking?"

"Yes, this is it."

"And what hotels will we be staying at?"

This caught Pacifica's attention and she stepped into the office.

"The Via del Palmar in Cancun is really nice. It's got big enough rooms for us all, with pools, and spas, and-"

"Yeah…" Dipper rubbed the back of his neck. "Pacifica, we're not going to Cancun. And…we can't afford hotels like that."

Pacifica hung her head, embarrassed. "Oh. Yes. Right."

Blushing, she began to shuffle out of the office. The microwave "dinged!" and she pulled her meal out of it. It was soggy, and bland, but she somehow managed to swallow it down. Gagging on the last few bites, she pushed the tray away and stood up. She leaned back in her chair and stared at the ceiling.

Of course they couldn't afford the Via del Palmar. She wasn't a rich girl anymore. She was a commoner now. Commoner. She wasn't sure she liked being "common." Though there were bad things about her life… _past_ life, she did like standing out. Well, "paranormal investigator" had a romantically adventurous sound to it…right…?

Pacifica sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair. She tried not to think about what kind of hotel they'd be staying at, she'd cross that bridge when she there. Besides, it couldn't be that bad…could it?

From inside the office, the phone rang.

"Hello?" Dipper asked. "Hey, Mabel…oh, they have?...Okay, we'll take care of it…Okay, bye."

Dipper stepped out into the dining room and sat down across from Pacifica.

"Your parents have filed the missing persons report."

Pacifica stiffened up. Here it was. The hard part.

"We're gonna go back now, we'll sneak you in, you go to the police station, and just say you aren't missing. You moved out, you're parents want to keep you there, they are abusing you, you don't want to press charges, you just want to close the case and be left in peace."

"What if they make me go home, or see-"

"They can't, you're an adult now."

Pacifica nodded. "Okay," she hugged herself and nodded again. "Okay."

Dipper set his hand on her shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile. Pacifica's attention was once more, however, drawn to his fit biceps. She gained control of herself quickly, though, and looked to him.

"You'll be okay," he assured her. "Just get it over with."

Pacifica nodded, and stood and went to her room to emotionally prepare herself.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

"Singing the driving song! Headlights are out! Can't really see where I'm going!"

"Remind me again why we let you drive?" Ford groaned as he listened to his brother's singing.

"'Cuz it's my car. My car, my rules."

"Tell that to the officer that'll pull you over for reckless driving!"

"You've seen the force in this town, you could convince them of anything. Heh! I even convinced them that I had a seeing-eye bear once!"

"A what?"

"Don't ask," Dipper mumbled as he leaned his head back against the headrest.

Pacifica barely listened to the three men's ramblings as she stared out the window, keeping her eyes pealed for anyone who might be out at 11:30 at night who might recognize her. Of course she was wearing a hoodie over her face, and it was dark, but she was still nervous. Her heart skipped several beats as they pulled into the police station, and Stan parked.

"Okay, here we are, doll, good luck. We'll be waiting out here for you."

"Wait, you're not going in with me?"

"Sorry kid. But if we go in there with you the cops might think we kidnapped you and are forcing you to do this. You have to go alone to show them this is your choice."

Pacifica let a small squeak of fear escape her throat, but quickly tried to cover it up by clearing her throat. Dipper caught on, however, and once more squeezed her shoulder in an assuring fashion.

"You'll be okay, just call us if you need us," he comforted her.

Pacifica nodded, took in a deep breath and stepped out of the car. She made her way into the station, opened the door. She glanced about until she found the front desk. Straightening herself, she waltzed up to the desk where a scrawny officer with a big nose was reading a newspaper…upside-down.

"Excuse me, sir, I need to close a missing person's case."

The officer looked up and, at seeing her, gasped and turned and yelled to the back of the station.

"Sheriff Blubs, it's the Northwest girl!"

A chubby sheriff with graying hair shuffled from the back hallway and chuckled at the sight of Pacifica.

"Well, lookee here. Pacifica Northwest in the flesh. What happened to you, girl? Your parents will sure be happy to see you."

"No!" Pacifica shouted, causing the two officers to jump. Pacifica took in a deep breath to calm herself before further explaining. "No, I don't want my parents to know where I am."

"Um, Miss Northwest…"

"I've begun a new life, and I would like to keep my parents out of it. I'm leaving Gravity Falls, and I don't want parents to know where I'm going. I simply want to close my missing person report and go about my business." A pause followed. Growing nervous, she decided to also add. "And I'm 18 so I'm legally allowed to do that."

After an incredibly awkward and long pause, Sheriff Blubs shrugged and replied, "Sounds good to me. Durland, go and close out the missing person's case."

"Righteeo, Sheriff Blubsee!" as Durland jetted off.

"Sure you don't wanna tell your parents nothing?"

Pacifica hung her head, thinking about what this would do to her parents. Of course, she had no choice, and this was kind of her parents' fault, but this would still break their hearts. Should she…

"No," Pacifica finally answered. "Just give them this," she tugged the gigantic engagement ring off her finger and set it on the counter. "Tell them I'm sorry it had to be this way, but that I'm safe and happy, and that they need to go on with their lives."

The sheriff took the ring, staring at it. He looked up at her, confused, but nodded. "Alright, good luck to you, girl."

Pacifica smiled and nodded, then turned and walked out of the station. She slipped into the backseat and closed the door behind her.

"Done," she announced as she buckled herself in. "Lets go."

"Alrighty, off to sunny Mexico!" Stan cheered as he sped off, crashing into a trash bin and sending it flying. Pacifica squealed and ducked, though no impact ever came.

"Dad-Gum you, Stan Pines!" Durland screamed from the window as they turned onto the road.

"You know we're going to Mexico to work not drink tropical drinks on beaches with attractive young women, don't you Stanley?" Ford asked as they sped into the night.

"Speak for yourself, bro! I'm taking at least a week of personal days to enjoy myself."

"Oh, Stanley," Ford pinched the bridge of his nose.

Pacifica curled into a ball. Just get out. Just get out. Just get out. As they drove off through the trees, she saw the country mansion. Staring through it, she could see that her bedroom light was turned on, and several cars cluttering the driveway. It must be a search party looking for her. Her heart ached.

"I'm sorry," she whispered under her breath, tears brimming her eyes.

"You okay?" Dipper asked.

Pacifica shook her head to clear her mind of its saddened state. "Of course, why wouldn't I be?"

Dipper touched her shoulder once again. "Well, this has to be hard for you."

Pacifica's lip trembled, but she straightened her shoulder and kept her chin lifted. "It's what had to be done."

"That doesn't make it any easier."

 _And you're not helping any!_ Pacifica wanted to yell. Instead she curled herself back into a ball. "Let's just get back to the boat."

Pacifica rubbed the towel furiously over her damp hair as the Stan-o-War trudged its way to Mexico. From across the hall, she could hear Dipper talking on the phone to Mabel.

"Yes, yes, we'll be hunting the Chubacabras again…no I'm not bringing you back a baby one…your definition of cute and my definition of cute must be two entirely different things…yes, all babies are cute, unless they are chupacabras…Well how 'bout I let one chew on your leg and then you can tell me if you think they're cute…you want a what instead?..."

Hanging the towel on a hook on her bathroom door, she turned to stare at the still crumpled sheet on the floor. She sighed, aggravated, and picked it up. Once again she tried to put it into place, but the minute she got one corner fastened, the other one would pop off. Chucking the sheet to the side again, she decided to tackle the pillowcase. It didn't take her long to get it on, but it was all crooked and crinkled. Taking the pillow out, she tried again, only to have the same result. Sighing in defeat she tried the bed sheet again, but to no avail.

"Augh!" she cried, her eyes stinging with frustrated tears. "What the heck am I doing out here! I can't even make a bed! I'm completely useless on my own!" Fear and anger, guilt, and anger overtaking her, she kicked the door, then screeched in pain. Hopping on one foot, clutching her throbbing toes, she all but screamed from overwhelming helplessness. She stepped on the sheet, and slipped onto her but.

"Augh!" Pacifica clutched her throbbing butt and cried.

"Pacifica?"

Her stomach dropping, she curled herself into a ball and covered her face.

"Go ahead, tell me I'm being ridiculous and get it over with!"

Dipper's footsteps came closer to her. She laid there shaking, waiting for the reprimand. A touch came to her back. She winced, the relaxed when she realized he was rubbing her back.

"Hey, now," Dipper soothed. "You're not being ridiculous."

Pacifica didn't look up at him, just curled into a tighter ball.

"You wanna talk about it?"

"No," Pacifica sniffled. "I just wanna learn how to put on this stupid sheet so I can go to sleep!"

Dipper removed his hand from Pacifica's back. From her sobbing heap she could hear him walking about the room. Embarrassed that someone had seen her like this, she began taking deep breaths, trying to gain control of herself.

"Alright, done," Dipper finally declared. Pacifica sat up and saw that the bed was made. She gasped in shock.

"I…I didn't mean you had to do it. I mean, I could have figured it out. I just needed-"

Dipper walked over to her and held out his hand. "Just 'thank you' would work, you know?"

Pacifica took his hand and let him pull her up. She stared down at her toes that she was nervously digging into the floor. "Thank you. And…can you not tell the others that I can't put a sheet on a bed?"

"I don't see why they think you would. After all, you've had servants to do that for you your whole life, it makes sense that you wouldn't know."

Pacifica blushed a bit as she pushed her hair back. Oh gosh! Not only had he seen her ugly cry after failing to make a bed. But he saw her ugly cry with wet hair, no make-up, and in pajamas!

"Don't worry, though," Dipper continued, oblivious to her embarrassment. "I'll keep this our little secret."

"Erm…thanks," Pacifica crossed her arms, still embarrassed. "Can you, maybe, I don't know, teach me tomorrow?"

Dipper shrugged. "Sure. It's just going to be sailing tomorrow, so I won't have much else to do."

"Thanks," Pacifica grinned. "I'm…I'm gonna get some sleep now."

"Alright, well, if you need me you know where to find me," Dipper said as he walked back into the hallway, and closed the door behind him. "Good night, Pacifica."

Pacifica stood in the middle of her room for a while longer, trying to calm down and wrap her mind around what had just happened. He didn't have to do that for her. She was just being a big crybaby. After all, it was only a sheet, wasn't it? No. She knew it was more, and that the sheet was just the straw that broke the camel's back, but she didn't want to face it. Not yet. Crawling under the covers, she turned out the lights and tried to force herself to sleep.

"Hey, Mabel, sorry about that, I heard Pacifica crying so I decided to go check on her."

"Oh, poor thing!" Mabel sympathized on the other end of the line. "This had got to be a real shock for her. I mean it's not like she's just moving, she's changed her whole lifestyle!"

"Yeah, she's actually been doing a lot better than I thought she would, but it's still hard for her, I can tell. I just wish I could make it easier for her."

"Well, maybe you can-"

"Mabel, if you tell me to get her a baby chupacabra of megaladon, I will call Soos and tell him to throw a bucket of water balloons on your head."

"Hah! You know he wouldn't dare!"

"So, Candy."

Mabel gasped. "You monster!"

Dipper laughed.

"But, seriously, I was going to say maybe you could get her some luxury items."

"Luxury items?"

"Yeah, you know; jewelry, a nice dress, some fancy painting. She had to leave that all behind, and that's all she's ever known. I mean, leaving all your jewelry for a regular girl would be tough, much less a rich girl."

"Huh," Dipper scratched his head. "Didn't think of that."

"Well, of course you wouldn't. Guys don't have the womanly intuition to sense these kinds of things."

"Womanly intuition?"

"Oh, come on," Mabel sighed. "You know it's real."

"Whatever," Dipper answered back. "I'll se what I can do."

"Good. So, about my baby megaladon…?"

"Mabel..."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

Pacifica concentrated as she struggled with the sheet. She knew she could do it. She had done it about a week ago when Dipper first taught her how to make a bed. But since getting caught in a small storm (resulting in Pacifica getting a bit seasick) she had to make up her bed again. After a few moments of concentration, she got the sheet snuggly over the bed. "Alright, and there you go," Dipper encouraged as Pacifica finished putting the sheet snuggly over her bed.

She sighed proudly, and placed her hands on her hips as she looked over her work. "Huh. Not too shabby, huh?"

"Not bad at all, now on to lesson number two," Dipper said. "I told you it wouldn't take you that long. Now, on to your next lesson," Dipper picked up the sack of the dirty bedding in his hand, "laundry."

Pacifica sighed, and followed after him to the washer and dryer. Dipper set the bag on the ground and opened the washer.

"Step one, take the wet clothes out of the washer and put them in the dryer."

Pacifica sniffed. "I could have figured that one out on my own."

Dipper grinned at her. "Well, just want to cover my bases. Step two, but a dryer sheet into the dryer with the clothes."

"What does that do? Get rid of static, softens the clothes, and helps them smell good."

"Okay."

"Now, would you say this is a small, medium, or large load?"

"Um…medium?"

"Yup, so we turn the nob to large, close the dryer push the start button, and there we go! Now, for the washer, we first separate out the colors and the whites."

Pacifica gingerly picked up one of the messy sheets and set it in the "white pile," all while trying to keep herself from gagging during the whole sorting process.

"Alright, now we're going to put in the whites, put one scoop of laundry detergent, go ahead," Dipper held out the detergent, and let Pacifica put the scoop in the washer. "Good, now we close it up. Would you call that load large, medium, or small?"

"Large?"

"Sounds right to me, so we turn the nob to large, push the button, and done!"

Pacifica smiled at the humming of the machines. "Well, that's that," she sighed.

"Hey, Dipper!" Stan called from above deck. "We're almost in position, come on up!"

"We're in Mexico?" Pacifica asked excitedly.

"Not quite yet," Dipper answered. "We're just in the Gulf of California. But this is where our first hunt it taking place."

"That so?" Pacifica grew even more excited now. Adventure. This is what she had been promised in return for all the pain running away had caused her.

"So, what are we looking for?" She asked as she and Dipper climbed onto the main deck.

"So glad you asked," Ford called from the railing as he punched some calculations onto some device and wearing a black, rubber suit. "We are here to hunt for the Megaladon."

"Erm, Megaladon?"

"Yes, a species of giant shark that is believed to have gone extinct thousands of years ago. We, however, have reason to believe that they could still exist in the California Gulf."

"Giant prehistoric shark?"

"Yeah, check it out," Dipper took a wooden box off a shelf and opened it the reveal a case filled with several shark teeth including bull sharks, great white sharks, tiger sharks, and-

"Whoa!" Pacifica gasped. "That tooth is bigger than all the others combined!"

"Yeah, pretty cool right?" Dipper asked as he put the box back. "And we're gonna catch a video of one."

"How?"

"We're going diving!" Stan cheered as he came over from the other side of the deck dressed in full scuba diving gear.

"Nice!" Pacifica cheered. "Anyone want to help me put my stuff on?"

"Um…Pacifica?" Dipper rubbed the back of his neck. "Scuba diving isn't something you can just jump into, especially when monster hunting."

"So, I'm not going in?"

"Sorry, but, no."

"So you're just gonna leave me here?"

"Well…yeah…"

Pacifica stamped her foot and crossed her arms. "What happened to me being a part of the team, then?"

"You are a part of the team," Dipper assured her.

"Then why aren't you letting me join in the hunt?"

"Because you're-," Dipper explained.

"What? The token female? Too blond? Too dumb? Just a pretty face?"

"What? No! Not at all," Dipper quickly tried to explain.

"You know that the reason I agreed to go with you guys was because you'd actually let me, oh, I don't know, live my own life instead of telling me what I can and can't do?"

"Pacifica, that's not what this is at all, I swear!"

"So, what, you only brought me on this ship to be charitable."

"No, no, no, if you'd just listen-"

"Hmph!" Pacifica stormed below deck and shut herself in her room.

What did she expect? All anyone had ever done her life was take advantage of her. Why would the Pines be any different. Need a fourth set of hands her butt! They were probably getting slammed about lacking diversity because their team only comprised of white males and, seeing what kind of desperate straits she was in, decided to jump at the chance of an easy solution. They weren't going to treat her like a serious team member. The only reason Dipper was teaching her how to do all those chores was probably so she could become the Stan-o-War's live in maid.

From heiress to maid? Hah! Not if she could help it! Storming back up to the main deck, she looked around to make sure all of Pines men had already dived in. She then rummaged through the trunk of scuba supplies until she found a swimsuit that fit her. She then, with quite a bit of difficulty, strapped on an oxygen tank, swim mask, and flippers. Then she jumped in. The sharp pain of hitting the water shocked her, and the weight of the oxygen tank almost snapped her back. She almost spat her mouthpiece out trying to cry in pain, but kept it in.

No. No crying this time. She had to prove once and for all that she was an independent, capable, strong woman who didn't need to be, who wouldn't be controlled by anyone. Looking about, she began to swim, looking for a gigantic, prehistoric shark. On all sides she was surrounded by a mass of blue. It was beautiful and kind of relaxing in a way. As she looked about, she could see the three shapes of the Pines men swimming about. Hah! She'd show them. Motivated, she began to swim in their direction. Once she caught up they'd be sure to understand that she…

With no warning what so ever, Pacifica was pushed towards the bottom of the ocean. Shocked, she began to swim back up, but no matter how ferociously she paddled, the force of the ocean only pushed her deeper and deeper below.

Screams catching in throat, she continued to fight, but could feel panic overtaking her. Why wasn't swimming working? She had been the best member on her high school swim team! She should be better than this! But down was the only direction she was going in. Suddenly, her mouthpiece was torn from her mouth, and her goggles were knocked sideways. Reaching blindly, she tried desperately to find her mouthpiece, but to no avail. He lungs burned from a lack of oxygen, she was still going down, and she couldn't see.

This was it! This was how she was going to die.

Suddenly something grabbed her.

Great, now not only was she going to drown, she was going to be some sea creature's lunch! Fighting to get away, she found that she was loosing the energy and consciousness to resist anymore, and felt herself being dragged further down, but now at and angle.

As suddenly as it came, the force pushing her down disappeared, and the grip holding her began to drag her up. Pacifica turned to see what was going on, but she still couldn't see out of her crooked goggles, and the lack of oxygen was forcing her eyes to close. Blackness began to overtake her as her entire body grew numb. Within seconds, the world around her disappeared.

 _SMACK!_

The impact of a hard, solid floor jolted Pacifica awake, even though she could move or open her eyes. She could vaguely hear someone yelling her name, and could feel herself being rolled over. Several harsh, forceful jolts crushed her chest, forcing her dead lungs to spring back to life and cough up whatever gunk they had in them.

Free to breathe, Pacifica gasped for as much air as she could take in and snapped her eyes open. Though her vision was still blurred, and the light burned her eyes, she could make out the shape of Dipper leaning over her. With gentle hands, he rolled her onto her left side. He gently tilted her head back, and set her right arm under it, then bent her left arm in front of her. He moved down to her legs, straightening the left out to align with her torso and bending the right to lie at a 90 degree angle in front of her.

Pacifica didn't fight him. She just let him move her however he pleased as she gasped for breath. Once he had finished putting her into the recovery position, he went back up to her face, and pushed her damp hair out of it.

"Pacifica, can you hear me?"

Pacifica slowly nodded.

"Does anything hurt?"

Pacifica thought for a while, trying to gage through her still haziness if she had hurt anything. Finally she shook her head. Dipper set a hand over one of her eyes, forcing it open. He shined a bright light into it, then did the same to the other, causing Pacifica to frown in displeasure.

"What's your name?" Dipper asked her as he took her left writs in his hand, and pressed his thumb against her vein, looking down at his watch. "Tell me your full name."

Pacifica frowned in confusion, but replied. "Pacifica Elise Northwest."

"How old are you?" Dipper didn't look up from his watch, and seemed to be counting to himself as he was ever so slightly bobbing his head in a strange rhythm.

"18."

"Where are you originally from?"

"Gravity Falls, Oregon."

"What month is it?"

"November?"

Dipper let go of her wrist, nodding in seemingly satisfaction, then turned back to Pacifica. "Can you sit up?"

Slowly Pacifica pushed herself into a sitting position, as Dipper hovered next to her, arms reaching out, ready to catch her if she fell. She didn't, though, and once she was seated, Dipper held up one finger right in front of her face.

"Follow my finger," he instructed as he began move it back and forth in front of her face. "Don't turn your head though, use your eyes."

She did, and after a while he stopped and held it at it original location.

"Reach out and touch it with your right pointer finger."

Pacifica did as he said.

"Now your left."

Once she had done that, Dipper slipped his hands under her right leg, one hand right in front of her knee, the other on her ankle. He moved his hands forwards and back, forcing her to bend her knee a few times.

"Point your foot for me," he instructed.

She did so.

"Now flex it."

She did that. Then they repeated the process with her left leg.

"I think you're okay," Dipper finally said, standing up and brushing his hands.

"Good," Pacifica turned and saw Stan and Ford standing near the railing. She hadn't realized that they had come back onboard until just then.

Stan suddenly charged towards her, hands clutched in fists, pushing right past Dipper.

"Then what were you thinking, you idiot!" he screamed. "Didn't we tell you to stay on the boat, you stupid blond!"

Pacifica flinched at the words as Ford raced up to his brother's side.

"Pacifica, what you did was extremely dangerous! You could have gotten yourself killed! Look at you, you don't even have your gear on correctly!"

Pacifica pulled her knees to her chest as she felt tears stinging the corners of her eyes.

"Pacifica, what were you thinking?" Ford asked.

"I just…I just wanted to prove I could do whatever you guys do."

"Well, you've certainly proved one thing," Ford said as he stood up and crossed his arms. "You've proved that you are reckless and have no clue how to scuba dive."

"I was on my swim team in high school, I though I could figure it out."

"Oh, for the love of-ergh!" Stan stormed off, tugging at his hair. Ford just continued to stare disappointedly at her.

"Well, did you figure it out?" he asked.

Pacifica hung her head. "No, sir."

"Pacifica, diving in the open ocean can be very dangerous. That down welling is just one of the many threats you have to look out for. Without proper instruction, you can easily be killed."

"I just…" Pacifica stammered, looking about for Dipper so her could help her. She found him leaning against the ship railing, watching on with an expression that clearly read "that's what you get for not listening" on his face.

"You just what?" Ford asked.

"I just…I just wanted you to take me seriously so you wouldn't treat me like some little…little…I don't know…"

"You want us to take you seriously?" Ford sighed. "Then when we give instruction and try to protect you, listen to us. We've been out here longer than you and we know what we're talking about. This isn't a game, Pacifica. This is dangerous work. You got lucky today, Dipper saw you getting sucked into the down welling and managed to get you out in time. Next time you might not be that lucky."

Pacifica sniffled.

"Now, go get dried off," Ford told her. "There'll be no more work today. I've got an accident report to write."

Pacifica laid her head on her knees as Ford stormed off.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

 _Knock. Knock. Knock._

"Go away," Pacifica curled herself into a smaller ball underneath her blankets.

She could hear the door opening, and groaned. The last thing she needed was another lecture.

"Dinner's ready," Dipper called to her.

"Not hungry."

An uncomfortable pause followed. After a few moments, Pacifica heard Dipper's footsteps coming towards her, and he sat on the edge of the bed.

"Look, Pacifica, what you did today was pretty stupid, I'm not gonna lie. But you can't beat yourself up over it. Just learn from your mistake and move on."

Pacifica sniffled from under the blankets, and didn't come out.

"Hey, if you want, early tomorrow I can give you a scuba lesson."

"After today you want me to get back in the water?"

"Well, yeah," Dipper answered. "Just not by yourself until you know how to handle it out there."

Pacifica sighed, and rubbed the back of her hand against her tear-stained face.

"We're not gonna kick you off the team just because you made one stupid mistake," Dipper continued. "Not unless you keep making a habit of it."

"That's what I'm afraid of!" Pacifica screamed, as she grabbed her pillow and furiously threw it across the room, causing Dipper to jump.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Pacifica, I was kidding!"

The distraught girl just collapsed against the mattress and let a small sob escape her.

"Hey," Dipper settled back down onto the bed and set a hand on her back. "No one is expecting you to figure this right away. This is-"

"Don't tell me what I should and should know!" Pacifica cried. "Don't tell me what you expect out of me! I'm tired of hearing that!"

"Okay, okay," Dipper took a step back. "I'm just saying, don't be so hard on yourself."

"Why not? Everyone else is!"

"Like who? Your parents?"

"Not just them! You, and your uncles! You expected me to just go along with whatever you said because you know better, and the minute I didn't, you hate me, and who knows what I'm gonna have to do in order to fix it."

"Pacifica, we don't hate you. We're just a little disappointed is all."

Pacifica didn't answer, she just leaded her face on her knees.

"And you do know we only told you to stay on the boat to protect you, not because we don't like you, or think you're capable or anything like that."

"Whatever."

"Look, if you're hungry there's chicken soup on the stove, come get some. Tomorrow, I'll wake you up bright and early we can begin our scuba lesson."

Pacifica sighed and covered herself in her blanket once more.

"Pacifica…"

Pacifica groaned as she felt someone shaking her shoulders.

"Pacifica, come on, time for your scuba lesson."

Pacifica groaned. "Can't it wait?"

"No," Dipper ripped the blanket off her, then screeched and tumble back when he saw that Pacifica was dressed in nothing but a t-shirt and panties.

"Oh my gosh!"

Pacifica screamed and pulled her blankets back over her.

"What are you doing!?" Dipper shouted as he turned his back and shielded his eyes.

"It's hot!" Pacifica answered. "What are you doing yanking my blankets off?"

"Well, I wasn't expecting you to be half naked! Again, what are you doing?"

"Can't I do whatever I want in the privacy of my own room?" Pacifica challenged.

"Privacy!?" Dipper shouted. "We're on a freaking boat! And you're the only woman on this boat, so, no, the rest of us aren't going to think and this stuff. AND! And, you knew I was coming to wake you up!"

"I didn't expect you to take off my blankets!"

"That's what you do when you wake someone up!"

"Augh! Just get out so I can change!"

Dipper raced out of the room, and slammed the door shut. Still blushing, Pacifica stepped out of her bed and got dressed.

"…okay, now that we're done with the final check," Dipper explained. "You're ready to roll in the water."

"Okay," Pacifica nodded.

"Now, we're just going to swim about for a little bit, and then we'll go back."

Pacifica nodded.

"Now, remember, there are sharks in this part of the ocean. If you see one, don't panic, slowly move out of their way, and don't turn your back to them. If you try to turn and frantically swim away, it will think you're a fish in distress and a good food source."

"Yeah, yeah, heard you the first time."

"Alright, I'll go first, then you can follow me," Dipper sat on the edge of the boat, and let himself fall backwards into the water. After he had swam out of the way, Pacifica sat on the edge and let herself roll in.

Letting herself get adjusted, she found herself look about the blue mass. Though her heart was beating rather quickly due to yesterday's experience, she began to swim about. It didn't take her long to find Dipper, floating nearby, keeping an eye on her. Slowly growing comfortable, she began to swim about, Dipper following alongside her, letting her explore a bit.

The blue mass began to look more and more comforting as she floated about. The ebb and flow of the ocean guided her along in her journey. Pacifica felt a small smile grow underneath her mouthpiece. There was something strangely relaxing about the whole thing, almost like an out of body experience, but the good kind.

Suddenly Dipper grabbed her arms and pulled her against him. Surprised, Pacifica turned to him, and he pointed out to the open ocean. Pacifica turned, and her heart stopped. Coming through the blue haze was the unmistakable silhouette of a shark.

All she wanted to do in that moment was get out of the water, but she remembered what Dipper had told her. Don't panic. Dipper slowly swam backwards, underneath the boat with Pacifica in his arms, then pulled something off his utility belt.

Pacifica turned her head to see what it was. Was he seriously recording this? That's all he was worried about in a moment like this? Turning back to the shark, that was now much closer, she suddenly understood, and her heart stopped again.

In an eerily graceful motion, the shark began to pass by them, or rather under them. Pacifica glanced down. The head was wide enough to be a dance floor! As the shark swam along, the dorsal fin passed by them. It was as tall as Dipper, and created a small current that gently tried to pull her into the open sea with it.

Pacifica's entire body shook with every pulse of her heart, as the rest of the shark floated on by. Finally, the enormous tail waved by, almost teasing at them with its final farewell. Back into the murky depths that it had emerged from it disappeared.

The minute the it was out of sight, Dipper and Pacifica raced to the surface and onto the boat.

Ripping her mask and goggles out, Pacifica let out a half-gasp-half-screech.

"Was…Was that…"

Lying next to her, Dipper began laughing hysterically.

"What's gotten into you?" Pacifica wondered.

"I can't believe this!" Dipper began playing back the footage on his camera. "Pacifica, we've got actual, video evidence of a live megaladon!"

"Really?" Pacifica asked.

Dipper let out another joyful chuckle as he collapsed against the deck in relief. "Do you realize that this is probably the first quality footage anyone has ever gotten of this creature that supposedly went extinct 10 thousand or more years ago?"

"Let me see that!" Pacifica yanked the camera out of Dipper's hands.

"Hey!" Dipper protested, but she succeeded in prying it away from him to review the footage herself. "Wow!" she sighed in amazement, letting out a small chuckled. "That's amazing."

Her entire body tingled in excitement.

"Hey, what's going on up here?" Stan asked as he stepped out onto the main deck.

"Grunkle Stan, look," Dipper snatched the camera away from Pacifica and showed it to his Grunkle. "We caught footage of a megaladon."

"What?" Ford all but jumped onto the deck. "Let me see."

Pacifica smiled proudly as the two older men ooed and awed over hers a Dipper's find. Surely now she had made up for her mistake and could be a full member of the team.

"Are you sure we can't go in?" Pacifica groaned as she lay bored on the couch.

"Yes, I'm sure," Dipper sighed as he drew a picture of the megaladon into a journal. "You're still too new to go onto a full out hunt."

"Ugh!" Pacifica groaned.

Dipper chuckled slightly to himself. "Y'know, I didn't expect you to be so eager to just jump right into paranormal hunting."

Pacifica turned to him confused. "Why not?"

"Well, I dunno," Dipper shrugged. "You've just never struck me as the adventuring type."

"Well…" Pacifica crossed her arms. "Maybe I've just never had the chance to go adventuring before. And maybe that I've gotten a taste of it, I want more."

"Well, I'm glad you like it, but let's take it slow."

"Why?"

"Well, the paranormal hunter life is kind of…well, it's just like a sport-"

"Sport?"

"Yeah, somethings you can just pick up, and somethings you have to work yourself up to."

"Oh, are you saying I can't handle certain parts of the business?"

"I'm saying there are somethings you can't handle _yet,_ " Dipper explained.

"Well, I-"

"Look what we got!" Stan cheered as he and Ford raced into the living room.

"Did you find the megaladon?" Dipper asked.

"Oh, yeah!" Stan chuckled. "The sucker tried to eat us. So, I took the opportunity to collect some flesh samples!" Stan pulled out a bloody bag full of chunks of meat.

"Augh!" Pacifica squealed in horror. "Oh, that's disgusting!" She raced out of the room and into the bathroom to get sick.

"Case in point!" Dipper yelled after her.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight:

Pacifica forced herself not to gag as she scrubbed over the third of the eight megaladon teeth Stan had brought her. Using the end of a toothbrush the scrape off the remaining flesh, and scrubbing off the blood with the bristles, though she wasn't exactly enjoying the process, it was better than what the two Grunkles were doing: cutting off tiny bits of the meat, and draining out the blood for testing.

"And we're gonna cook in here?" Pacifica muttered to herself as she set the newly cleaned tooth aside and picked up another. Since there was no official lab on the Stan-o-War the kitchen was currently serving the needed purpose.

"Well, we're gonna Clorox it first," Stan answered. "What do you think we are, animals?"

Pacifica didn't answer but began to, unhappily scrub at another tooth. One of the chunks of meat flew off the base of the tooth and splattered on her cheek.

"Augh!" Pacifica dropped to tooth and brush into the cleaning tray and began to swat at her face, before realizing that the gloves she was wearing only smeared more gunk on her cheek. "O-o-oh! Gross!"

From the office, Dipper burst into laughter and rolled his chair back to see the sights. "Pacifica Northwest covered in shark guts, never thought I'd see that."

"Can it, Pines!" Pacifica shouted as she begrudgingly went back to work. "Or I'll clean off the rest of this with YOUR toothbrush."

"Go ahead. Won't be the first time he's used a bloody toothbrush," Stan snickered, to which he and Ford busted into laughter.

Dipper frowned as he rolled back to his desk. "That was one time, people! And it was only because you two knuckleheads got me drunk!"

"Drunk?" Pacifica asked. "Don't you have to be 21 to drink?"

"Not in Panama!" Stan exclaimed.

"Incredible!" Ford gasped from his microscope. "Stanley, look at this!"

"Um, okay," Stan placed his eye on the lens. "What am I looking at?"

"It's the shark's telomere, a cell that can be used to determine a creatures age by multiplying how much the telomere has deteriorated to the estimated-"

"English, please?" Stan crossed his arms, annoyed.

Ford frowned, adjusted his glasses, and continued. "Basically, this cell can tell us how old our shark friend is-"

"I wouldn't call someone who just tried to eat us 'friendly,' bro."

"That's beside the point! The point is, this shark we encountered is over 150 years old!"

"150?" Dipper called from the office, rolling back into view.

"Yes!" Ford exclaimed excited. "At first I thought it would be some sort of mega-growth hormone that would help the megaladon reach its impressive size. But it's not! You see, sharks never stop growing their whole lives, so it is possible that this is just a species of long-living sharks, whose long lives let them reach their massive size. Can you imagine if you could find the source of their long lives? How many diseases we might could cure, how many lives we could prolong, how much medical advancement-"

"Aw, great," Stan groaned. "He's on a nerd rant. Well, I'll be watching wrestling if you need me!"

Left alone with a gushing Ford, who seemed oblivious to everything but the findings in front of him, Pacifica turned back to her cleaning. She was on the last tooth when she heard Dipper question from the office, "Hey, what's that?"

Finishing her work, throwing away her gloves, and washing her face, Pacifica stepped into the office. "Hey, what's going on?"

Dipper was staring hard at his computer screen, clicking every so often at his mouse, a look of concentration and pondering on his face.

"Come look at this," he said, as he pulled Pacifica's chair from her desk over to his. Pacifica sat down in it, and turned her attention to the screen.

"What's going on?" she asked again.

"Okay, so I'm going over the footage from Stand and Ford dive, and I see something moving in the background, keep your eye on the upper right-hand corner."

Dipper pressed play. The footage of a megaladon zipping past played, causing Pacifica to jump, and momentarily forget about Dipper instructions.

"Okay, now something's about to come into view," Dipper said, pointing to the indicated area. From the depth came a shadowy figure that looked like a floating mass of rags.

"See it?"

"Yeah."

"Okay," Dipper began to fast forward. "It appears in two more shots. There," Dipper stopped fast forwarding. The camera danced around frantically as Ford, or Stan, or whoever was holding it tried to get away from the megaladon. "And…here!" Dipper paused it, and in the top of the frame were four shadowy, snake-like figures.

"And then it shows up…" Dipper fast forwarded again. "Here," Dipper paused it and there was what looked like a black head with several arm extending from it.

"Is that an octopus?" Pacifica asked.

"Uh-uh," Dipper shook his head as he played the three pieces of footage over again in slo-mo. "Too big."

"Giant squid?"

Dipper pointed to the circular mass in the middle of the limbs on the last shot. "The head's the wrong shape for a squid."

He scribbled something onto a piece of scratch paper, and chewed on the end of the pencil. "What the heck is that?"

Pacifica noticed a small bookcase under Dipper's desk, and one of the books was titled "Mysteries of the Deep."

"Mind if I look through some of your books?" she asked.

Dipper shrugged as he replayed the footage. "Help yourself."

Pacifica pulled out the book and began to flip through the pages. She finally stopped on one page and set the book down next to Dipper's laptop.

"Could it be this?"

Dipper looked down to see what Pacifica had found, and his eyes grew wide.

"Duh!" he face-palmed himself, then picked up the book and his laptop and raced out of the office.

"Grunkle Stan, Grunkle Ford, look at this!"

 **IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

Pacifica grumbled to herself as she lay on the couch and the three men prepared to dive to go find the Kraken they'd accidently caught on film earlier. From the window, Dipper could see her moping about.

He sighed. He felt sorry for her, he truly did. At least while he had been with her during Stan and Ford's dive she'd had someone to talk to. Now she'd be by herself, which is not what she needed to be. Even if she didn't admit it, he could see how hard this adjustment was on her. She probably felt alone enough as it was without actually being alone.

Remembering one of his conversations with Mabel, he picked up an x-ray gun from the trunk of supplies and attached it to his belt.

"Hey, Grunkles, I'll be staying close to the bottom to look out for what the Kraken might eat and maybe wrestle up some food for ourselves."

"Hey, fresh sea-food!" Stan cheered. "Sounds good to me."

"Very well, Dipper, just stay close, incase we need you," Ford nodded as he strapped on his tank. Dipper smiled and finished getting ready as the wheels in his head were turning.

 **IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

"Find the Kraken?" Pacifica asked as the Pines men returned to the ship.

"Not a scale of him!" Stan cried. "But, we did find dinner."

Dipper came up next carrying a net full of oysters. "Mind taking these to the kitchen for me?" he asked Pacifica.

She took the net rather nonchalantly, since it was full of sea varmint, but after having shark blood and flesh splattered on her, it seemed like a breeze.

"Aw, you only brought oysters? I was hoping for some crab legs or lobster tail!" Stan whined as he made his way below deck to shower.

Pacifica set the net in the sink and was making her way to the living room, when Dipper passed by her and caught her arm, dragging her back in.

"Ah, ah, ah."

"What?" Pacifica sighed, annoyed.

"Time for your next life-lesson. Cooking oyster stew."

"Really, Dipper?" Pacifica grumbled. "I'm exhausted, I'm not even that hungry, I've been up since dawn cleaning off grossness, and watching you three have all the fun, and…! And…" Pacifica sighed and jerked her arm away from Dipper. "Can't this…can't this just wait until tomorrow?"

Dipper set his hand back and her arm and began leading her to the kitchen. "The oysters won't be any good tomorrow. Besides, you'll like this."

Pacifica rolled her eyes. "What part of cracking open sea bug, gutting them and boiling alive sounds like something I'd enjoy. Especially after the shark…blood…incident…"

Dipper chuckled a bit as he guided her to the counter. "Just trust me on this, okay?"

Pacifica huffed and picked up one of the oysters. "Fine, but if one of these splatters on me I really WILL do something to your toothbrush."

Dipper shrugged. "Eh, that's fair. Let me help you."

Dipper stood behind Pacifica and helped her hold the oyster in one hand, and wedge the knife into the hinge of the oyster.

"I'm not enjoying this yet," Pacifica hissed through gritted teeth as the shell cracked.

"Just give it a minute," Dipper told her as the oyster popped open. Pacifica gagged at the gooey sight.

"So not enjoying this!"

"Hey, but look at that…" Dipper guided her hand with the knife to poke at a small pocket in the mess, and a tiny purple sphere popped out. Pacifica gasped.

"Is that-"

Dipper picked the gem out for her and held it at her eye-level to sea.

"A natural, purple, salt-water pearl."

Pacifica gasped as she snatched the pearl form him and examined it. "It's perfect! I wonder if there are any black pearls in these. Did you know that the Sea of Cortez, which is actually just the California Coast, produces the best black pearls?"

"I did not know that."

Dipper really did, but he let Pacifica have her fun.

"Ah!" Pacifica gasped as she opened another oyster. "Look! It's black!"

Dipper took some bowls down from the cabinets. "Here, let's put purple pearls in here, black pearls in here, and-"

"Oh! A yellow one!" Pacifica jumped up and down as she held up her new treasure. Dipper laughed.

"Yellow ones in here. And if we find any other colors we'll put them in the other pearls."

"Okay," Pacifica agreed eagerly as she set a second black pearl into the black bowl and moved onto another oyster. "Ooh! A green one! And-oh, this one has two. Ooh, this one's gray!"

By the time all the oysters had been shucked, they had found 39 gray, 21 purple, 18 yellow, 19 green, and 15 black pearls.

"Their so pretty!" Pacifica cheered as she looked of their bounty.

"Sure are," Dipper agreed as he began melting butter in a pan for the oyster stew, which was still the plan. Pacifica glanced over at him suspiciously, then crossed her arms and stepped right up to him so she could stare him square in the face.

"What?" Dipper asked innocently.

"Alright, how'd you do it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Dipper denied as he pulled out some celery and onions and began chopping them up.

"All of those oysters had at least one pearl in them-"

"Yeah, how 'bout that?"

"Dipper, there's no way that was just a coincidence."

Dipper shrugged. "We hunt the paranormal, anything's possible."

"Dipper…"

Hanging his head in defeat, Dipper caved. "Alright, I borrowed Grunkle Ford's x-ray gun to see which ones and pearls in them and took those."

"So that's why you didn't get a crab or lobster for Stan?"

"Don't tell him," Dipper begged.

Pacifica smiled. "I won't…thank you."

Dipper shrugged as he began to stir in some flour to the now melted butter.

"Don't mention it."

"No, I'm serious," Pacifica set a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you."

Dipper stopped his stirring for a minute, and turned to face her. "You're welcome."

Pacifica smiled, then turned and looked at the bowls of pearls. "Now what do we do with them?"

"If you'll put them in bags, I have an idea."

"What is it?"

"Can't tell you."

"Wha-But Dipper…" Pacifica put on her best pouty face.

Dipper grinned but shook his head. "Nope, it's a secret."

Pacifica sighed in defeat and set the pearls into different ziplock bags according to their color while Dipper fixed up the stew.

"So, you brought a bathing suit, right?" Dipper asked.

Pacifica raised an eyebrow, confused. "Yeah, why?"

"Because we have to go onto Mexico-"

"What about the Kraken?"

Dipper shrugged. "It wasn't on the University's search list so we can't spend anymore time on it. We've gotta stay on track."

"Well, that's stupid!" Pacifica huffed as she crossed her arms.

"Yeah, I agree, but it is what it is. Now…what was I saying?" Dipper scratched the back of his head with one hand and stirred the stew with the other.

"Bathing suit?"

"Oh, right, well when we get there it'll be too late to start a hunt, so we're just gonna have a day in the town and on the beach."

"Great! But-aw…"

"What?"

"I didn't bring anything to wear over it for when we go shopping or sightseeing or anything like that."

"Um, we'll be in the tourist section of town. I don't think that will be hard to fix."

"I haven't gotten any paycheck yet though because the University hasn't finished setting up my account, and I only have the cash I brought from home, which isn't Mexican."

Dipper shrugged. "I'll cover it."

"No, I can't ask you to do that," Pacifica shook her head.

"You didn't ask, I volunteered." Dipper said in an almost insulting way, like all that was missing was the "duh" at the end.

"Yeah, but, I don't want to be a moocher or anything like that."

"You're not," Dipper answered. "Your account hasn't been set up yet. That's a genuine reason to not have money."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I want to take yours."

"You're not taking it, I'm giving you a gift as a favor between friends/co-workers."

"But it's you're hard earned money you earned."

"Yeah, my money. Meaning I'll spend it on whatever or whoever I want."

"But-"

"Pacifica, either you let me buy you one with you, or I'll pick one out and buy it without you and you get what you get." Dipper turned off the stove and began carrying the pot to the table. "Honestly, it's like you're twelve-years-old arguing with Mabel over tacos all over again. Go round up the old timers, will you?"

Pacifica nodded and made her way below deck. She twirled her hair as she went. He didn't have to do all this. Why was he doing all this? Just being nice? Trying to make her feel better? Make this transition easier on her? Any of those reasons, though nice and very much appreciated, weren't really his problem. Why waste energy on something, and someone, who wasn't his concern. Just because?

Pacifica smiled as she made it below deck and knocked on Ford's door.

"Dinner's ready."

"Very well, be right up."

As she made her way to the other end of the hall, she pondered over the nights events and conversations. She couldn't remember the last time someone had done something for her "just because." Frankly, she didn't know if anyone ever had done her a "just because."

"Dinner's ready," she called as she knocked on Stan's door.

"Yeah, one sec."

Pacifica made her way back up to the dining room. Dipper had just finished setting the table and, at the sight of her, pulled out a chair for her.

"Such a gentleman," she joked as she set down.

"I do try, m'lady," Dipper bowed in false snootiness, then shot back up awkwardly. "That wasn't offensive, was it?"

Pacifica laughed. "No. It was funny."

"Okay, good," Dipper sighed as he sat down.

There he went again. Making her laugh "just because."

She liked this "just because" business. It was nice.

 **A/N: WHAT!? Dipcifica hints? *Gasp!* "This could be the start of** **something new..." Oh, sorry, wrong fandom. *ahem* Anywho, apparently when I've been copying and pasting these chapters from Word, the scene dividers have been disappearing. So sorry! I'll try to fix that and at some point I'll try to go back and fix-up the earlier chapters.**

 **Also, I don't think I HAVE to say this, but just incase that "one person" shows up (and if you don't know what I'm talking about, it's probably you). I completely made up the megaladon living to be over 100 years old thing. I actually don't know how they got that big, they were probably just a bigger species of shark. I just wanted to give Ford something to geek out over, because it's hilarious when he "nerd rants" and Stan's reaction to his "nerd rants" are pretty funny too.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hey guys, sorry it's been a while since I've updated. Finals are coming up for me, and I also got cast as a Sea Creature in my community theater's production of Little Mermaid, and one of my friends who is a film major cast me in one of her film projects, so...yeah, my life is kinda chaotic right now. So, updates will be spotty. But, if I don't update in a while know that it's not because I'm not finishing the story, I'm just a very busy bee right now.**

Chapter Nine:

Pacifica slowly opened her eyes and stretched her arms as she awoke from her sleep. The boat was doing it's typical fashion as she sat up. Looking down to the foot of her bed, she saw three folded pieces of cloth and a note. Confused, she picked up the note and it read:

"We made it to Mazaltan late last night, earlier than we thought. We're still taking a day off though. Ford and I made a quick Walmart run to stock up on supplies while you and Stan slept. I saw these and picked them up for you to wear over your swimsuit. I hope they fit and that you find one you like. (I wasn't sure which color you'd prefer.)

-Dipper"

Pacifica gasped as she looked back down at the pieces of cloth. One was pink, one orange, and the last blue. She picked up the pink one, and held it out. It was a sundress with a floral pattern in red around the neckline and hem. She held it to her chest and looked at herself in the mirror. The dress reached about to her knees. She set it down and picked up the orange. It was almost exactly like the pink just a simple piece of square cloth that came down in points and was held up at the shoulder by two think ribbons. The only differences between the two was, obviously, the color, and that the trim on the orange dress was of yellow birds instead of red flowers.

Setting down the orange, she picked up the blue. It was same as the first two, only blue with a black seashell pattern on the neck and edge. Smiling eagerly, she slipped out of her clothes and into her bathing suit, and red tankini with lace on the edge of the top. Deciding the orange went best with it, she put it on, brushed out her hair, put on her make-up and slipped into her flip-flops.

Racing to the main deck, she was surprised to find that no one was out there.

"Guys?" she asked, her heart sinking. They hadn't left her had they? "Guys?"

"Yeah, up here," Pacifica looked up to find Dipper waving from the sun deck. Sighing in relief, she raced up to meet them. She found Dipper and Ford lounging about on the patio furniture, sipping on glasses of lemonade, both wearing Hawaiian shirts and kaki shorts, though Ford still wore his trench coat.

"Ah, I see you found the dresses Dipper got for you," Ford said as he set his glass down on the table, and spun his finger in a downward circle. "Go on, give us a spin."

Blushing a bit, Pacifica twirled around one time to give them a good view.

"That color suits you," Ford nodded in approval as he picked his drink back up.

"Thank you," she said as she sat down on a patio chair next to Dipper, who was occupied with pouring her a glass of lemonade. Pacifica took him in as he worked. His shirt was sky blue with a pale, palm leaf pattern. Not too tacky like most Hawaiian shirts, and it somehow suited him.

"Where's Stan?" she asked as she took the glass from him.

"Still sleeping, the goober," Ford answered, taking another long gulp from his glass.

"So, what are we going to do today?" Pacifica bounced eagerly in her chair.

"Well, I figured we'd go on a jungle canopy tour and zip-line, check out the local market place, and watch the sunset on the beach," Ford answered.

"Zip-line?" Pacifica asked, stiffening a bit.

"Have you never zip-lined?" Dipper asked.

"…No…" Pacifica hung her head, embarrassed.

"Well, today is going to be an exciting day for you," Dipper smiled, taking a sip from his straw.

"Hm," Pacifica sipped on her drink. "I guess so."

"Where are my pants!?" Stan bellowed as he rushed onto the main deck in only his boxer. Pacifica squealed ducking and covering her eyes, accidently dropping her drink off of the sun deck onto Stan's head in the process.

"Ach! Burning cheese and sprinkles! Who's throwing refreshments!?"

"Stanley, clothe yourself, you idiot!"

 **IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

"You guys, I really think I should go back," Pacifica quivered as she tried to balance herself on the tree branch she was standing on, staring out at the single rope she and the three Pines were expected to walk on to continue their canopy tour.

"C'mon, kid, you're harnessed in. You won't fall," Stan grumbled as he stepped out onto the rope, holding onto the tether that attached his harness to the safety rope above their heads.

"So?" Pacifica demanded to know as she felt her knees knocking together.

"Come on, Pacifica," Ford said as he followed after Stan. "You've come this far, it would be a shame to turn back now. Besides, the view is excellent."

"I just…are you sure it's secure?" Pacifica asked as Dipper stepped out onto the rope. "This is a third world country, after all."

"What's wrong?" Dipper asked as he turned around to look at her. "Are you scared of falling?"

Pacifica shifted uneasily, almost loosing her balance. She regained her bearings before answering. "Maybe. A little?"

"Well, here," Dipper held out a hand. "If you fall, I'll catch you."

"You? Catch me?" Pacifica arched an eyebrow in question.

"Hey, I'm stronger than I look," Dipper assured her as he reached out further for her hand. Still shaking from her nervousness, Pacifica took his hand. He held onto tightly, but somehow was still gentle as he guided her onto the rope. Clutching onto her tether and Dipper's hand she took one step shakily in front of the other. Keeping her eyes glued on him, she cautiously continued forward until Dipper, for some reason, stopped in the middle of the rope.

"Look down," he told her.

"What? Are you crazy!" Pacifica screeched. "Isn't that the LAST thing you're supposed to do when you're balancing on a rope?"

Dipper laughed a bit. "Just trust me."

Pacifica glared at him, but looked down. Below was a sparkling blue river plowing through a lush, green, forest. The sunlight reflected off the water and lit up the forest in brilliant green. A couple of red parrots soared below them, and over a splashing and bubbling waterfall. Alongside the river grew patches of brightly colored flowers that danced lazily in the breeze. Pacifica gasped at the sight.

"Beautiful," she sighed.

"Glad you came out now?" Dipper asked as he led her to the other side of the rope.

Pacifica could only nod as she kept her eyes glued on the sight. Sadly, though, they eventually reached the end of their rope and had to go onto the next part of their tour, climbing across a swinging rope until they reached a giant spider-web looking formation they had to climb up. Pacifica struggled a bit in her sundress (yeah, she probably should have though about that before but she…well…well…used to have servants for that…)

Somehow she managed to make it to the top though, where there awaited a platform and the climatic zip-line. Pacifica felt her stomach tighten up again as she watched Stan step up to the line first, and let his tether be harnessed to the zip-line and jumped off the platform.

"Bonzai!" he cheered as he disappeared into the green ocean. "This is awesome!"

"I'm next!" Ford jumped up and down like a little kid as he rushed to the zip-line.

He jumped off and slid through the canopy.

"You wanna go next, or me to?" Dipper asked after Ford made his cheery exit.

"You! I mean, ahem, me…or…I don't know," Pacifica shifted uneasily.

"Who next?" the man responsible for supervising the zip-line asked.

"We don't know, hand on a sec," Dipper answered before turning back to Pacifica. "So which do you want?"

"I don't know. I guess me…but I don't really want to!"

Dipper arched an eyebrow in confusion. "So you do, but you don't?"

"Hey, amigo, you and the pretty lady just go together," the supervisor.

"We can do that?" Dipper asked.

"Si."

Dipper turned to Pacifica and shrugged. "Well?"

"Sure," Pacifica shrugged. They walked over to the supervisor, who made them stand back to back hooked their harnesses together, then hooked their tethers up to the zip-line. Pacifica was in the back, and could see the jump off point, making her very nervous. That and the fact that, with Dipper being so much taller than her, he was basically carrying her (man, he really was stronger than her looked.)

"Ready?" Dipper asked.

"Um, maybe…no! No, I don't-"

Dipper jumped. Pacifica squealed in fear.

"DIPPER!"

They crashed through green canopy, and then soared over the sparkling waterfall they'd seen earlier. In a second, her fear disappeared as she got sucked up in the environment. She sighed at the beauty of the sight as she spread out her arms. She grinned. She felt like she was flying. She giggled then let out a cheer of joy.

"Whoo-hoo! I'm queen of the world!"

The mist of the waterfall splashed on her as they sailed by it. She closed her eyes and let herself relish in the moment of feeling totally and absolutely free!

The moment did not last long enough, though, and soon Ford and Stan were helping them to unhook her and Dipper.

"That was amazing!" Pacifica cried as she danced about happily. "Let's go again!"

"Sorry, sweetheart, we only paid for one round," Stan said.

"Besides," Dipper mumbled as he cleaned out his ear with his pinkie finger. "If I have to ride with you screaming again, I'll probably go deaf."

 **IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

"Eh, amigo, four tacos, por favor," Stan called as he waltzed up to the taco stand in the marketplace.

"Is this clean enough for eating?" Pacifica whispered to Dipper as Stan placed in the order.

"Sure," Dipper shrugged. "We ate from one of these last time we were here."

Pacifica began to ask something else, when Stan shoved a steaming hot soft taco into her hand.

"There you go, kiddo. The best taco you'll ever eat!"

He took a big bite out of his, before something caught his eye. "Hey, is that tequila!"

Pacifica eyed the taco nervously. The street dogs and flies spinning about the marketplace made her question the sanitation of the place.

"It really is the best taco you'll eat," Dipper muffled through his full mouth of taco. When Pacifica still didn't eat, he chuckled and elbowed her in the arm. "C'mon, live a little every now and then."

Sighing in defeat, Pacifica took a bite, and nearly fell over. "This is delicious!"

"Told'ya," Dipper chuckled as he polished off his meal and threw away the napkin. "C'mon, let's see what they've got for sale."

Pacifica nodded. She loved shopping except…her account still wasn't set up so she still had no money. Oh, well. Looking would still be fun. As she stuffed the last of the taco into her mouth and wiped her hands off on the napkin, she noticed a dress stand.

"Ooh!" she squealed as she stepped inside. There were so many options! Sleeveless ones, spaghetti strapped ones, off the shoulder sleeves, one shoulder, long sleeve. Short, long, medium. Most had traditional, Mexican designs, and stripes, and such, but there was one that was just a plain black with a long skirt, sweetheart neckline, and capped sleeves. It looked like the typical, cheap options that were for the common people at the dress salons. Pacifica took it off the rack (which was really just chicken wire stretched over the back of the stand with the hangers stuck through the holes.)

Holding it up, she looked at herself in the long mirror propped on the cash register desk. The mirror was a bit dusty from all the dirt that was getting trekked in from the streets, but she could still see herself, and she looked pretty nice. Putting it back, she took a more traditional looking dress, then a one shoulder champagne one, a short grey one with long sleevs and pink stripes, a spaghetti stripe party dress with a striped skirt, and a sleeveless black dress with a white traditional design over the chest and stomach.

The lady behind the cash register began chatting at her in Spanish. Pacifica blushed.

"Um…no speakio Espanol…?"

"You want buy?" she asked.

"Oh," Pacifica hung her head. "No, no, just looking."

She put the dresses up and walked out. Brushing some dirt off her sundress, she trudged through the market. That was a bit embarrassing, did normal people always do this? As she passed through the plaza in the middle, she heard a familiar song play from a drink stand.

"Hey, I love this song!" She heard Stan cheer from the stand before he charged out straight towards her, a bottle of tequila in his hand. "C'mon, Pacifica, let's dance!"

Before she could protest, Stan scooped her up into his arms and began swinging her around.

"Spin you dance pal, in circles around, until the sun starts going down!" he sang as he swung her about.

A circle of people began forming around them, clapping to the beat and cheering out "Hey, hey, hey, hey!"

"Hey, bro, get in here!" Stan practically threw Pacifica aside before charging towards Ford, who ran off screaming. Thankfully, Pacifica landed into Dipper's arm.

"Oh, thanks, Dip-"

Dipper suddenly spun her around, and picked her up and began to dance with her.

"Dipper! Stop!" Pacifica whined. Dipper only laughed, and dipped her.

"You suck!" Pacifica huffed. Dipper laughed and set her on her feet.

 **IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

Pacifica sighed as she spun around slowly as the ocean water splashed around her. The sun was slowly setting over the horizon, creating a relaxing environment. Sadly, however, the lowering of the sun caused the weather to cool and, shivering, she stepped out of the water, slipped on her sundress, and sprawled out on her towel. Watching the sky change from pink, to orange, to red, to purple, she let out a small yawn.

Still enjoying the splashing fight with his Grunkles, Dipper didn't notice that their comrade had left at first. After Stan accidently knocked Ford's glasses in the water, causing the two to get into a real fight, Dipper left the ocean, and noticed Pacifica lying on her towel. Stepping on of the water, he went over to check on her. He chuckled when he realized she had fallen asleep.

Sitting down his own towel next to her, he looked up at the changing sky himself. Glancing at Pacifica from the corner of his eye, he began to think about the blond girl. He hadn't expected her to keep up as well as she had. Though she'd been wary of a few things, she'd ended up rolling with all their shenanigans fairly well. Before to long, it would be as if she'd been a part of the team forever. She was a lot more of a good sport than he'd expected. And she was actually turning out to be a pretty tough cookie.

The sky growing dark, Ford and Stan began to call out "Dipper, Pacifica, time to go!"

Dipper scowled as he began to think. He didn't think Pacifica would be happy if he woke her up, especially after his last…well…accident waking her up. Finally making up his mind, he carefully slipped her towel out from under, stuffed it in his bag next to his own towel. Rubbing his hands together to brush off as much sand as possible, he scooped Pacifica (who was surprisingly light) into his arms, and carried her back to the boat behind his Grunkles.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

 **AN: (In Bill's Voice): "I'm BA-A-A-ACK!"**

 **So, quick disclaimer! The hotel in this chapter is not meant to be representative of all Latin American facilities, just the cheap and run down ones, which is all the Pines would be able to afford. I lived in Latin America for seven years, so I know it's not all like this. I have stayed in 5-star hotel that are on par with anything in the USA while down there, and I've stayed in places like this. So, yeah, please don't be offended! I'm not trying to say all of Latin America is junkie, just some places are, but that's true of any country.**

 **P.S. This one is a little intense and has some blood in it, so, just be warned if you're queasy.**

Pacifica lazily hummed a tune as she tapped her foot on the floor of the jeep, and drumming her fingers on the door. She stared out the window, watching the desert landscape pass by, the sun going down below the horizon. She grew restless, feeling the nervous energy building up in her as she began squirming.

"Pacifica…" Dipper sighed as he set his book down momentarily to glare at her.

"I'm bo-o-ored!" she whined as she collapsed against the back of the seat.

Dipper sighed. "You could read," he said as he buried his nose back into his pages.

"I get carsick reading in the car," Pacifica huffed as she crossed her arms.

"Draw?"

"Road's too bumpy."

"What happened to your music?"

"My battery's dead!"

"Charge it."

"Phone charger's in my bag in the back."

"Well, whose fault is that?"

Pacifica huffed, turned her back to Dipper, and crossed her arms.

"You suck!"

"So I've been told."

"Gr!"

"Don't worry you two, you won't have to put up with each other for much longer," Ford called from the driver's seat. "We're here!"

Pacifica perked up and looked the windshield. A black metal spiked fence rolled open to let them drive into a small, cobblestone parking lot. Pacifica slipped out of the car and took her bags out of the back of the jeep. She ran through a small stone doorway into a small courtyard with an old fountain gurgling in the middle. There were dust bunnies collecting in the corners, and there were only 15 rooms in view, ten on the second floor, five on one side of the bottom floor. The other side had a small cafeteria that could only fit two long picnic tables in it.

Pacifica sighed. It certainly wasn't the Tipton.

Stan stepped up behind her a jingled a key above her head. "Here's your key, kid. It'll be upstairs."

Pacifica took the key from him and began to look for the elevator. To her dismay she found that there wasn't one. Her arms already aching from carrying her bags, she began to trudge up the stairs. Struggling to get the key into the door, she sighed. This was going to be another adjustment phase. Once she finally got the door open, she saw nothing but a bed, a small dresser, and a door leading to a tiny bathroom with only a toilet, a sink, and a shower. Dropping her bags on the floor she collapsed on the bed.

"Ouch!" She gasped as she jumped back to her feet and rubbed her face. The bed was anything but soft. Pressing one hand onto the mattress, she could feel the springs starting to come through. Sighing, she opened the bottom drawer of the dresser and found a small stack of blankets. She threw one on the bed (feeling momentarily proud of herself for being able to smooth it out evenly over the bed) and lied down on it. It only helped a little. Mumbling she grabbed the pillow and buried her face in it. The stuffing had been squished flat. She tried to fluff it up. It flattened right back down the minute she put her head on it.

Groaning, she ran her fingers through her hair. It was going to be a long night. Slipping into the bathroom, she got ready for bed. She stood for about thirty minutes next to the shower, naked, waiting for the water to warm up, but it stayed ice cold. Tapping her foot impatiently she heard a knock at the door.

"Hey, kid," Stan called from the other side. "Just so you know, there's no hot water. And breakfast starts at six o'clock sharp, so you better get up at around five."

Pacifica groaned. No hot water? A hard mattress, a flat pillow-

"Also if you see a scorpion or tarantula, there's a bug catcher named Felipe living in an apartment behind the lobby."

-and creepy crawlies!

"Well, g'night!"

Pacifica could hear Stan walking away from the door as she murmured "I don't see anything 'good' about this night."

Mustering her courage, she stepped into the shower. A loud screech escaped her as the ice water cut through her senses.

A knocking came from the other side of the wall. "Pacifica?" Dipper's voice called. "Is that you?"

"Y-y-yeah!"

"Are you okay?"

"J-j-j-just c-c-c-cold!"

"Gotcha."

Working quickly, she sudsed up her hair and body and rinsed off so she could jump out, and wrap up in a towel. Teeth chattering, she slipped into her pajamas and began to brush her teeth, which was hard to do with them still chattering. After she'd finished, she slipped out of the bathroom, and dug through her bag for her hoodie. She put it on, pulled all the blankets of the dresser, and sat on the bed. She rolled herself into a blanket cocoon and laid her head on the pillow. It was still flat. She freed one hand from her cocoon and pulled out a few corners of the blankets to set over the pillow. That helped a little, or at least enough for her to slip into a troubled sleep.

 **IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

"AAAAHHHH!"

Pacifica startled straight up out of her bed. She tried to jump out of her bed, but got caught up in her blanket cocoon and slammed into the floor. As she picked her head up, she saw the skin of a tarantula under her bed.

"Oh, gross!" she cried as she untangled herself and stood to her feet.

"Ayuda mi!" someone yelled from outside. "Mi hijo! Ayuda me!"

Rushing towards the door, she busted into the hall and ran to the courtyard. A woman dressed in a hotel uniform was running about, screaming and crying hysterically. Pacifica felt a bump from behind her as Dipper raced passed her and to the woman.

"Que pasa?" he asked. Pacifica's eyebrows perked up in surprise. He could speak Spanish? As Dipper calmed the woman and the two began to discuss what was going on, Pacifica felt a strange pitter-patter in her chest. The sound of Dipper's voice articulating the melodic sounds of the language was somehow…

… _Attractive?_

Oh, good grief, what was wrong with her? There was a woman hysterically sobbing in the middle of a courtyard! She should be focusing on that not-

-Who knew rolling your r's could be so alluring?

Focus!

Stan and Ford walked up next to her.

"What's going on?" Stan asked.

"Hm?" Pacifica quickly snapped out of her trance. "Oh, um, I don't know yet."

Dipper said something else to the sobbing mother in a comforting tone, seemingly comforting her. He then turned to the other three.

"Her son is missing," he answered. "Someone broke into the apartment. She says she thinks it's El Cuco."

"El Cuco?" Pacifica asked.

"A Latin American Boogie Man," Dipper explained. "He sneaks into children's rooms and steals them away for dinner. She says lots of kids have been going missing from this area recently, so everyone thinks its El Cuco."

"That horrible," Pacifica gasped.

"It happened recently, so there a chance we can find him," Dipper added.

"Well, let's go!" Stan cried as he and Ford raced to back to their rooms. They can back soon with weapons, night vision goggles, and other such gear. They tossed her a rifle, a knife, some sticks of dynamite, a utility belt, and some goggles. Pacifica held them out awkwardly. What was she supposed to do with all this?

Dipper assured the woman once more, then turned to Pacifica.

"Here," he offered as he took the belt from her and fastened t around her waist. He attached the knife to the belt, and untied a bag that was attached to the belt, slipped the dynamite into it, and reattached it. Her took the rifle, and loosened a strapped attached to it. He tired to slip it on her, but it began tugging on her shirt, pulling it down low enough to show off quite a bit of cleavage. Pacifica gasped and slammed her hands to her collar. She was still in her pajamas, so, no bra. A bit of running with her shirt lying so low and something bad would happen.

Seeing her discomfort, Dipper quickly took off the rifle. Blushing, he slipped off his bathrobe, he'd been smart enough to grab, and set it over her shoulders.

"Sorry, here," he said as she slipped her arms into the sleeves. He let her adjust it before slipping the rifle back onto her. He then set the goggles around her neck.

"Okay, let's go," he said as he slipped his own gear on with lightning speed and turned to go. His biceps were exposed due to the tank top he wore with his short, and they shone brightly in the moonlight. Pacifica shook her head to clear it of her thoughts and focused on following him and his Grunkles out of the hotel. Ford had one set of goggles on his eyes, another set around his neck.

"There's still a heat trail here," he said as he started off, the other three following him. It didn't take long her Pacifica to fall to the back. She grumbled as she cursed her short legs. Being short and petite didn't favor her in her past life with her parents, because she couldn't be a model, and it didn't serve her here because she couldn't keep up.

"The heat trail is disappearing, we have to move faster!" Ford called. Pacifica broke into a sprint to keep up with the three men. Suddenly a sharp pain cut through her heel. She cried out and stumbled through the ground. A bloody cut stained the bottom of her foot, and she looked a saw a pile of broken glass on the path. She groaned in pain as she clutched a hand in the gash.

"Why the heck aren't you wearing shoes!" Stan scolded as he and the other two came back.

"I just jumped out of bed!" Pacifica answered, you three aren't-" she looked and saw that the other three men were wearing flip-flops. "Oh."

"It's okay, rookie mistake," Ford assured her. "Just head back to the hotel, we'll patch you up when we get back."

"Can you find your way back?" Dipper asked.

"Yeah, I think so," she answered as she stood to her feet, wincing.

"Here," Dipper tore off the bottom of his shirt, revealing the bottom of his torso which, to Pacifica's surprise, was incredibly toned, and she felt a bit dizzy. Maybe it was the blood loss? "Wrap the cut in this to keep dirt out, and go slow."

"We've got to keep moving if we're going to find the boy," Ford called.

"Be careful," Dipper told her, and he raced off after the other two.

Pacifica sat back down and wrapped the portion of cloth around her foot four times before tying it off and stood back up. It still stung, but it stopped the bleeding and took some of the pressure off it. Wiping her bloody hands off on her shorts she began the slow trek back to the hotel. Looking up towards the sky she could see the twinkling stars, which took her mind off the pain for a minute as she got lost in the glittering canopy. Despite all the changes she'd faced, all the culture shock she'd gone through, the sky and the stars had stayed the same. If she imagined hard, she could believe, even for a second, she was sitting on the roof of the country club mansion, and there was no arranged marriage, and her life was back to normal.

She was suddenly snapped out of her trance by a sobbing noise. Looking about she saw a red glow coming from a run down shack and a the sound of a child sobbing came from inside. Curious, Pacifica walked over to the shed and peeked through some of the boards. Tied up and sobbing in a corner as a young boy, trembling in fear as he stared at a hooded figure crouched over a gigantic pot hanging over a fire. Pacifica's heart sank. This was the hotel worker's son, and that must be El Cuco. Pacifica stepped back and looked around. She couldn't go get the others, it might be too late by then. She'd have to save him.

Shaking in fear she began feeling around her belt. Her hand came to rest on the bags of dynamite. That would work. Walking behind the shed, she saw a giant rock a few feet from the shed. She walked a little passed it, she set a stick of dynamite on the ground. Fumbling about her belt she found a pocket with a box of matches inside. She lit the dynamite fuse, then ran and ducked behind the rock. The dynamite went off. A growling noise came from inside the shed and the hulking hooded figure came out and walked towards the dynamite to investigate.

Pacifica took the opportunity to slip into the shed. The little boy stared at her, eyes filled with fear. Pacifica put a finger to her mouth to tell him to be quiet as she began to cut away the ropes. Then she took his hand and ran out of the shed. Her heart was about to beat out of her chest as she guided the little boy back towards the hotel. This was crazy! What was she doing?

Suddenly a roar came from behind her. Shaking in fear, she picked the boy up and jumped into a ditch next to the road. She set the boy down and peaked ever so slightly out of the ditch. A giant caped figure was trudging down the road. Pacifica ducked back down as El Cuco passed them. It stopped a few feet away and began sniffing at the air. Pacifica's heart stopped. Was it going to find her?

"Sangre!" the boy gasped next to her. Pacifica looked and found him pointing at her cut foot. Pacifica's insides grew cold. It could smell her blood.

 _What am I going to do? What am I going to do?_

She had to get the kid safe, that much was true. Since it was her blood he was sniffing, she could probably use herself as a distraction, but what about her safety? El Cuco didn't seem to be that fast. Maybe, just maybe, she could out run it and catch up to the three men. They would know what to do. Pacifica choked back a whimper. It was a stupid plan, but it was the best she could do. Pacifica knealt down to the boy's level.

"I'm," she pointed to herself. "Gonna go that way," she pointed in the direction the three men had gone in. "You," she pointed to the boy. "Go that way," she pointed to the direction of the hotel.

The boy nodded. Pacifica stood back up and peaked out of the ditch. El Cuco was still sniffing at the air. Mustering her courage, Pacifica picked up a rock and climbed out the ditch. She made her way to the middle of the road, reared back her arm, and threw the rock at El Cuco's head. The monster growled and turned to glare at her. Pacifica took off running. Her foot didn't even hurt anymore, she was only concerned with making it to the Pines men.

A cold hand grabbed her ankle and pulled her to the ground. She turned around and found a pair of burning, evil, yellow eyes staring at her, and a wide mouth of needle like teeth gaping to snap at her. Screaming Pacifica kicked the monster in the eye. She shocked it enough to let her go and she took off running again.

"Dipper! Stan! Ford! Help!" she cried as she pumped her legs and tried to chase down men. A huge mass slammed into her back, slamming her into the ground. Pacifica began to panic. She screamed, then remembered that she had a knife. Struggling to get her hand to her knife, she felt a puncturing clamp close on her neck and shoulder, emitting a pain that was both dull and sharp. Screaming, she began to toss and turn as she fought to reach the knife. She clasped her hand around the handle, pulled it out, and jabbed it to where El Cuco was chewing on her shoulder and neck. She clipped it's lip, causing it's bite to loosen, turning just enough so she could see, she stabbed it in the eye. El Cuco stumbled back, screeching and scratch at it's face, tearing its hood. Pacifica began to run again.

"Dipper! Stan! Ford! Dipper!"

Within a few minutes, it slammed into her again, slamming her on her back. Pacifica put her hands up, pushing against El Cuco's neck. She pushed up trying to push it off her. It growled at her, snapped at her, the knife still stuck in its eye.

"Guys!" Pacifica screamed. "Guys, please!"

El Cuco grabbed her wrists, slamming them down, it's claws cutting through her skin, it growled again and began to open it's mouth to chomp on her head.

 _"_ _DIPPER!"_ she screamed, then closed her eyes, waiting for the bite.

A gunshot went off. El Cuco fell off her. Pacifica opened her eyes, and Saw El Cuco clutching his arm, roaring at something behind her. Another gunshot went off. Stan jumped in front of her, re-cocking his rifle, and taking another shot.

"Pacifica!" Dipper knelt down to her side. "Oh, no! Oh, no, oh, no, oh, no! Guys, she's hurt!"

El Cuco ran off, back the way they'd come. Pacifica gasped and sat up, pointing after him.

"The kid! Don't let him go after the kid!"

"We got it," Stan ran after the monster, Ford on his heels.

"Get her to the hospital," Ford ordered Dipper as he raced after his brother. Dipper scooped Pacifica into his arms.

"You'll be okay," he assured her as he began to race down the road and into the city, he fumbled to get his phone out of a pocket on his belt, and dialed a number as Pacifica's head grew foggy.

"Hola? Hola? Hospital? Si, mi amiga-"

Pacifica passed out.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven:

 **AN: Okay. I'm not going to call anyone out, but you know who you are, I promise THERE WILL BE DIPCIFICA IN THIS STORY! I will get it to you, just be patient. I warned y'all in the beginning that they'd be taking it slow because, until this point, they only saw each other during the summers and were only friends. At the beginning of this story they hadn't seen each other in two years. They haven't had time to become romantically involved yet, but now that they are spending every day together, sparks are igniting. (And, if you haven't noticed, I've been dropping hints and teeny tiny sparks the last few chapters.(Pacifica slightly swooning in the last chapter when Dipper tore his shirt was not because of blood loss *hinthint*)). So, please stop bugging me every single chapter for dipcifica, I will get it to you when I get it to you, so just enjoy the journey towards it.**

 _Beep. Beep. Beep._

Pacifica slowly opened her eyes and found herself staring at a blank, white, ceiling. Her neck, left should, wrists, and right heel ached and itched. She looked down and found a blue hospital blanket covering her. She lifted it up and found bandages covering said areas of her body. An I.V. was stuck in the back of her right hand. Looking around her, she saw a T.V. mounted on the wall, two doors, one leading to a bathroom, on leading to a hallway, a couch set under a window with a crinkled blanket on it, indicating someone had been sleeping there. There were two other blankets on the floor in some sort of makeshift sleeping bag, and a chair with Dipper sitting in it. His head tilted back, and a blanket covering his lap. Quiet snoring came out of him as he chest raised and fell.

Pacifica sat up. She felt a bit dizzy, and ran her hands over her face and through her hair trying to work the wooziness out of her. Her cheek stung at her touch, and she could feel scrapes on her face. They didn't feel to be deep of large enough to be considered serious. Memories of the night before were slowly coming back to her. She couldn't remember anything after Dipper had picked her up, though. Obviously he'd gotten her to the hospital. The blankets on the bed and floor seemed to indicate that Ford and Stan had been there, but she had no idea where they were now. She just hoped-

What happened to the little boy?

Dipper began to stir next to her, and he began stretching, his joints cracking as her worked the stiffness out of his bones. He lazily opened one eye, and smiled at her.

"Morning," he said. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm a bit dizzy," Pacifica answered.

"It's probably the pain meds," Dipper answered as he stood up. "Water would probably help a bit, though," he walked over to a small table in between the hospital bed and the couch where a pitcher of water and some cups were sitting. He poured a glass and gave it to her. She sipped on it before asking.

"What happened to the little boy?"

"He's fine," Dipper answered. "He made it back to the hotel and he's home."

Pacifica sighed in relief. "And El Cuco?"

Dipper chuckled. "In an ice trunk on the way to the University for studying."

"You killed it?"

"No, Stan did."

Pacifica sighed. "I guess it's for the best, seeing how it was eating kids."

"Yeah."

Pacifica ran a hand over the bandage over her shoulder and neck. "What happened after-after-"

"You passed out?"

"Yeah."

"We met up with an ambulance about ten minutes later and they took you here. They gave you about 45 stitches and bandaged you up, and put you on a pain med I.V. We stayed the night with you, Stan and Ford had to go out looking for a Ahuizotl-"

"A what?"

"Basically a water dog," Dipper explained. "They should be back tonight, though."

Pacifica nodded. "How long am I going to be here?"

Dipper shrugged. "I'm not sure. You should be able to take out your stitches in about three weeks."

Pacifica nodded again. "Did I need a blood transfusion?"

"Nah," Dipper began folding up the blankets and stack them on the couch arm.

"Why'd I pass out, then?"

"Shock I guess," Dipper answered.

Pacifica sniffed. "Wow, so I basically fainted like a damsel in distress."

"Sure, a damsel in distress that looked a man-eating monster in the eye and stabbed him in the face," Dipper replied with a bit of a sarcastic tone. "You did better than most would have given your situation."

"Whatever," Pacifica smoothed her blanket.

"Really, Pacifica, you shouldn't be so hard on yourself."

"Can I watch T.V.?" Pacifica tried to change the subject.

"Sure, but it's all in Spanish," Dipper handed her the remote.

"Maybe you can translate for me?" Pacifica asked.

"I dunno. They speak pretty fast on movies. It's hard to translate and watch at the same time."

"Aw!" Pacifica fake pouted as she flipped through the channels.

A nurse opened the door, she said something in Spanish and Pacifica turned to Dipper with a clueless look on her face.

"She says you have a visitor," he told her. The hotel worker came up from behind the nurse, she walked to Pacifica's bedside. He eyes grew moist as she covered her face and began crying. She reached for Pacifica's hands and held them tightly.

"Gracias!" she cried. "Muchas gracias!"

She pulled a bronze bracelet with several charms in the shape of hearts, cows, donkey, crosses, birds, praying saints, praying hands, angels, moons, suns, and stars. She slipped it onto Pacifica's wrist, then kissed both of Pacifica's cheeks, and hands.

"Gracias!" she cried again. "Dios te bendiga!"

She then dried her eyes and ran out of the room. Pacifica stared at the bracelet in wonder as she ran her fingers over the shining charms.

"She said thank you for saving her son," Dipper translated. "And she hopes that God blesses you."

"Yeah, I figured that one out," Pacifica answered as she continued to stare at her bracelet.

"Those are Milagros," Dipper explained.

"Milagros?" she asked.

"'Miracles.' Good luck charms that are used for protection," he explained.

Pacifica chuckled. "I can definitely use some protection."

Dipper chuckled along with her. "You hungry?"

"A little bit."

"I'll be back."

After breakfast, she spent the next few hours flipping through until she found a movie that had subtitles. Once that movie had finished, she'd begin hunting for another. Dipper stayed with her most of the day, except when he went out to buy food for lunch, dinner, or snacks. After lunch, he bought a stack of cards, and they spent a few hours playing kings in the corner, black jack, and war. After a little while, though, the bending of her writs began agitating her stitches, so she went back to watching TV.

At about 9, Dipper had slipped out to get a new water pitcher. Pacifica got tired of lying in her bed, so she slipped out of the bed and stepped to the window. She opened it and inhaled deeply. The window overlooked a river, and the gurgling noise relaxed her. She closed her eyes and let herself relax.

After a few minutes, she heard a crying noise. Opening her eyes she saw a translucent, glowing woman floating over the river, crying into her hands as her white hair flowed behind her. Pacifica gawked at the sight.

"Pacifica?" Dipper questioned as he entered back in the room.

"Dipper come look," she called. Dipper walked to her side and gasped at the sight.

"Oh, wow!" he pulled out his phone and began recording the ghost wandering over the water, her arms outstretched as if she were looking for something. The woman hovered for a few minutes longer before slowing disappearing, letting out one final cry as she dissolved away.

"Was that…?" Pacifica began.

"La Llorona," Dipper answered.

"Oh, I thought it was a ghost."

"La Llorona is a ghost," Dipper explained. "Just a particular ghost with a particular story."

"Tell me?" Pacifica asked.

"Well, I don't remember all the details, but the basic gist is that there was once a single mother who was desperate to marry her sweetheart, but he refused because she had children. So she took her children to the river, saying they were going to take a bath, but instead she drowned them. When her lover found out he refused to marry her and told the whole town what she'd done. Heartbroken and filled with guilt, she drowned herself in the same river she'd killed her children. Now she's cursed to wander the earth forever as she searches for the souls of her children."

"Wow," Pacifica sighed. "I guess I'm not the only one with horrible parents."

Dipper frowned at her statement.

"At least La Llorona was sorry, I don't think mine are."

"Pacifica…" Dipper bit his lip and turned away. "Never mind."

Pacifica sighed and began to rub her back. Through the low cut in the back of her hospital gown Dipper saw several white circular marks going up and down her back.

"Pacifica, what are-"

"Cigar burns," Pacifica answered. "Or the scars that are left anyways."

Dippers insides grew cold.

"How did you get those?"

"How do you think?" she sniffed.

"Your parents did that to you?"

"Yup," Pacifica answered.

"I thought the night you came to us after your engagement was the first time they'd every physically hurt you."

"No," Pacifica closed her eyes and sighed. Dared she tell him?

Yes. She did. "They smoke cigars when no one is looking. And if I misbehaved when I was little they'd stick them on my back. That's why I can't where bikinis or low back dresses, because someone will see them."

Dipper could only stare at the scars in horrid wonder.

"They stopped when I was around eight though, because then I started listening to the bell. After I stopped though, they would beat me." She sighed a bit. "Remember the night you helped me get rid of that ghost?"

"Yeah?"

"You remember seeing me for a while after that?"

"No."

"That's because they locked me in my room for a week."

"Why?"

"Because that's hoe long it took the bruises to go away."

Dipper gasped. "Why didn't you tell us then?"

"What good would it have done?" Pacifica sniffed. "They would have just bribed off the cops and I would have gotten another beating."

"Well…" Dipper sighed. "Good point."

Pacifica hung her head, a few tears trickling down her face.

"Doesn't really matter now. It's all done."

"Does it still hurt?"

"The scars? No. They're a decade old, they're just ugly to look at is all."

"They're not ugly," Dipper told her. "And I wasn't talking about the scars."

Pacifica sighed. "I know you weren't. And…" She bit her lip and looked up at the stars to try and hold back sobs. "Yeah. Yeah, it still hurts."

A few more tears rolled down her cheeks. Dipper set a hand on her shoulder.

"It's just…" Pacifica took a shaky sigh before continuing. "Why? Why did they hate me so much that they would burn me? Hit me? Lock me up? What did I do to deserve all that?"

"Nothing," Dipper gave her shoulder a small squeeze. "You didn't-"

"Did you know they had three miscarriages before me?" Pacifica asked.

Dipper stared at her in shock.

"Yeah. It took them four tries to have me. You'd think they'd treat me a little better because of this. But you know how I found out about the miscarriages? When we were moving out of the manor, I found the medical files they'd saved. They never even told me. You know what caused them?"

Dipper shook his head.

"Smoking. Drinking. My mom refused to give up her party lifestyle for nine months. The first time she did that? Okay, you made a mistake. Don't make it again. But no. She made the same mistake not twice, not three times, but four times, because guess what else I found in those files? A picture of my mom going to have a check-up while pregnant with me. Guess what I could see peeking out of her purse in that picture? A bottle of vodka. She could have killed me too, but by some miracle or divine intervention I made it."

Pacifica paused to take a breath before continuing. "So, they didn't care to take care of themselves when they were carrying me or my brothers or sisters, so why did they want me? Maybe they really want did want me and just had issues? But they beat me, threatened me, broke me, so clearly not. And then two months ago, I figured it out. They needed a child so they could have an heir that they could marry off to get more money, and so they could ensure the continuation of their fortunes and image. I wasn't their child. I was their possession. Their chess piece. Just a good they could trade off to the highest bidder."

Pacifica wiped her face off on the back of her hand. "I'm nothing to them. I was just something there to support and serve them. I, myself, didn't matter."

Dipper gently grabbed her arms and pulled her in to a hug.

"Sh," he whispered as he rubbed her back. "You know that's not true. You do matter. You are more that just a chess piece."

"I know, but why-"

"There is no reason. Some people are just heartless and uncaring."

"But, is there anything that I could have-"

"No, there is nothing you could have done."

Dipper smoothed her hair.

"Did I ever tell you about my parents?" he asked.

Pacifica shook her head.

"Well, not much to tell really," Dipper said. "For as long as I can remember my regular days consisted with Mom waking us up and bring us to school. Then she'd pick us up, turn on the TV and set us in front of it. She'd turn it off for dinner, if she wanted to, sometimes she'd just bring our plates to us. Somewhere in there Dad would come home, he'd pat us on the head, then start making phone calls, even at the table. We'd watch TV until bath time. Then we'd wash up, go to bed, and start it all over in the morning. Weekends, we'd go to daycare, but it would be the same routine. I can't remember a single meaningful conversation I've had with my parents. They didn't even show up to any of my award ceremonies, or mine or Mabel's graduation. They weren't even there when Mabel won homecoming queen."

"I know it's not as bad as your situation. They didn't care about us, but they didn't actively try to hurt us. And I had Mabel, then later Stan and Ford. To be quite honest Stan and Ford were the ones who raised us. Point is, you can't make your parents love you. They should. If they can't love kids they shouldn't have kids, but that's the way things are in this messed up world we live in. "

"But you can't let that destroy you. If you want to make a good life for yourself, then you've gotta be able to pull yourself together and make it happen."

Dipper pulled her back and wiped her tears away with his thumb. "And you've done a pretty good job in starting that."

Pacifica sniffled as she cleared her throat. "Yeah, sure. Nearly drowned myself, then nearly gotten myself eaten by the boogie man-"

"Pacifica, please, stop downing yourself," Dipper told her. "What happened last night was a freak incident. And you saved a child's life. That little boy would be dead without you."

Pacifica glanced down at her bracelet, a small smile curling on her lips.

"You are doing a world better than I thought you would. Honestly, I didn't expect you to take up my offer. I thought you'd be too scared. But you proved me wrong. You're brave, Pacifica. Braver than I could have ever imagined."

 _Brave?_

No one had ever called anything like that before. It made her smiled.

Dipper wiped her tears away again. His touch was soft and warm.

"You'll be okay, Pacifica," he told her. "You've got me, and Stan, and Ford, and Mabel, and Soos, and Melody, and Abuelita, and Wendy, and Candy, and Grenda, and Marius. You're going to be okay."

And for the first time in her life, as she relaxed in Dipper's arms, she believed that she would be okay.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve:

"Well, welcome back to the world of the living, kid," Stan cheered as he slapped Pacifica on the back. Pacifica winced as her stitches began to sting.

"Thanks," she murmured through clinched teeth as she stepped into the courtyard of the hotel.

"You're back just in time to help us hunt down the chupacabras."

"That's cool," Pacifica answered as Ford came down the stairs while sealing a couple of envelopes.

"I've just gotta mail these off, and we'll be ready to go," he said as he stepped towards the lobby. Pacifica mounted the stairs and made her way to her room. She opened the door and then screeched as she saw a gigantic spider crawling across her floor.

"Pacifica?" Dipper asked as she walked out of his room. "What's wrong-HOLY CRAP!"

He jumped back, and leaned over the railing to yell "Stan! Ford! Someone come kill this!"

"Dipper?" Ford came up the stairs. "What is-OH MY STARS! STANLEY!"

"I'm comin', I'm comin'," Stan grumbled as he trudged to the second floor. "What's the-"

Stan looked into the room, and rolled his eyes. "Aw, c'mon, you bunch of babies." Stan went to his room and came out with a net to catch the spider.

 **IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

"…and you all just acted like a bunch of pansies!" Stan chuckled as he drove into the desert.

"You don't have to keep reminding us, Stanley," Ford sighed.

Pacifica slumped in her seat as they drove further and further into the desert.

"C'mon, it was hilarious!" Stan cheered. "All of you curled up in a shuddering on the balcony as if the thing was holding y'all at gunpoint!"

"Well, whadaya know, we're here!" Dipper suddenly cut off Stan's teasing as a cave came into view. Stan parked the jeep and they all climbed out.

"So the chupacabras live in there?"

"They did last time we were here," Dipper answered as he began prepping the cameras.

"And we're just going to waltz right in there?"

"Yup," he handed her a utility belt that she strapped around her waist.

"Great, I just got out the hospital for nearly being one monster's lunch, now I'm just gonna go right back!"

"Nah," Dipper shook his head. "Chupacabras are smaller than El Cuco, so they'll be easier to fight off. Besides they're nocturnal, so they'll probably be asleep."

"But let's not take any chances," Ford said as he handed Pacifica the same knife she'd used to stab El Cuco in the eye. "I think it's safe to say you know how to handle this."

Pacifica took it from him and attached it to her belt. "Thanks," she smiled.

"Alright, let's head in," Ford called as Dipper handed her a headlamp and camera. Pacifica decided to take the rear of the group as she flipped on her lamp and turned on her camera. She began filming the cave as they went in, guessing that some shots of the environment.

"Hey, look at this," Ford called from the front. Pacific stood on her tip-toes to look over the broad shoulders of the men in front of her. Lying in a small pile were a couple of skeletons.

"Looks like something has wiped our chupacabra family out."

"Aw," Pacifica cried. "Poor things."

Stan sighed. "Well, take the skeletons back I guess."

"Not much else we can do," Ford agreed as he pulled an evidence bag out of his belt. "Besides, I think we'll learn more from this than we will a video. Stan, help me out. Dipper, Pacifica, no need for the two of you to be trapped down here, you can go back to the jeep."

Dipper nodded and led Pacifica back out of the cave.

"Well that was disappointing and exciting at the same time," he sighed as he walked over to the jeep and settled down in its shade. Pacifica sat down next to him.

"Does this kind of thing happen a lot?"

"As in unexpected results? Yeah, all the time," Dipper took up his canteen, unscrewed it, and took a gulp, he handed it to Pacifica who smiled in gratitude as she took a drink.

She ran a had over the stitching on her neck in discomfort.

"Itching?" Dipper asked.

"Yeah," Pacifica sighed as she leaned against the jeep. "Guess that's expected, though. It's better then not getting stitches."

She suddenly stiffened and turned away from Dipper so he couldn't see her embarrassment. "Not…not that I'd know."

Dipper sighed. "If you don't wanna talk about it, just say so. I already know about the cigar burns, bruisings, bell, and lock-ins, so gashes wouldn't surprise me."

Pacifica sighed. "Okay, I don't want to talk about it."

"Talk about what?" Dipper faked obliviousness as he took another sip of water. Pacifica smiled. Somehow he always knew when to push her for information and when to let her be. In fact he always seemed to know what she needed. In the month she'd been on the team he'd seemed to know what she always needed exactly when she needed it. When she needed help with her sheets, when she needed a cold shoulder after doing something stupid, when she needed a morale booster with her favorite thing, gems! (though he still hadn't told her what he was doing with those pearls). She didn't know how he did it, but she appreciated it.

"Uh-oh," Dipper suddenly gasped as he stood to his feet.

"What?" Pacifica asked as she jumped up. Dipper pointed to a hill. Pacifica turned and looked, and saw a group of thin, dog-looking creatures with spikes growing out of their backs were coming over the hill.

"They're not all dead," Dipper gasped. "C'mon, we gotta distract them so they don't go in the cave to Stan and Ford."

He grabbed her hand and pulled her behind him as he headed towards the hill. He let go, picked up a rock, and threw it at the chupacabra that seemed to be in the lead.

"Hey!" he screamed. The rock his the alpha in the leg, causing him to growl and glare at the two young people.

"Okay, let's go!" Dipper grabbed Pacifica's hand again and took off running, all but dragging her behind him. The chupacabras began howling and chasing after them.

"I thought you said they're nocturnal!" Pacifica cried as she pumped her legs.

"They are!" Dipper cried.

"Then why are they out during the day."

"I dunno, desperate for food I guess."

"Oh, terrific!" Pacifica cried as she realized that more than likely put them on the menu.

"Over here!" Dipper pulled her to the side and dragged her into a pit with muddy water in the bottom of it. They ducked down as the chupacabras ran passed them. As the last of the pack scampered passed they let out a sigh of relief, only to here a hissing noise coming from behind them. They both turned to find a gigantic snake slithering up to them.

"Run!" Dipper screeched as he jumped out of the pit and carried Pacifica up with him.

"Of course run! Do you think I'm an idiot?" Pacifica yelled as they raced back to the jeep. When they arrived they found Stan and Ford had exited the cave-

-and were fighting off the chupacabras that had returned.

"Well, that worked!" Pacifica cried sarcastically.

"Come on, we've gotta help them!" Dipper said as he raced towards the fight. Pacifica followed after him, pulling out her knife as she did so. One of the chupacabras saw her and lunged at her. She swung the knife, catching it in the face. Another ran towards her and she kicked it in the face. A third jumped towards her head, but she ducked just in time for it to miss. A rough hand suddenly grabbed the scruff of her shirt as Stan pulled her into the speeding away jeep.

"Gotcha!" he cried as he tossed her in the back. Pacifica gasped to actch her breath and Ford leaned out the window, filming the chupacabras chasing after them.

"Incredible, tey are hunting in a patter similar to-"

"Patterns-Shmatterns!" Stan called as he grabbed Ford by his belt and tried to pull him back into the jeep. "Get your butt back in here!"

"Let me go, the University specifically said it wanted video evidence."

"Well I'm specifically saying I want my brother in one piece! Besides, we've got skeletons!"

"You know how specific they are!"

"Yeah, but do they know how specific my fists are?"

"That doesn't even make any sense!"

"It does if you don't overthink it."

Pacifica turned and looked back to see the chupacabras still chasing after them, but loosing ground quickly. Within a few minutes they were out of sight. Pacifica let out a sigh of relief and began to chuckle.

"Wow, that was…that was…"

"Cool?" Dipper suggested.

"Amazing! Oh, my gosh, did you see how many of those things there were? And how we outran them? And I got two in the face! And we ran into a snake-"

"Aw, heck no!" Stan cried out. "I'm not dealing with snakes on top of blood sucking canines!"

Pacifica just laughed as she leaned back in her chair.

"I know, I shouldn't be happy about nearly getting killed but, oh my gosh! I've never felt so…so…I don't know…vitalized!"

Dipper chuckled as he set his hands behind his head and propped his feet on the back of Stan's seat. "And that, my dear, is what we like to call, real living."

"Hey, you wanna keep living, get your stinky toes out of my face," Stan called.

"Oh, yeah?" Dipper challenged as he jammed his feet right under Stan's nose.

"Kid! I'm warning you! I will pull this car over right now!"

Dipper laughed as he set his feet down and turned to Pacifica. His face grew concerned as he reached out and touched the stitching on her neck. "Pacifica, your stitches are bleeding."

Pacifica put a hand to her neck and felt a stickiness lying there.

"Here," Dipper pulled out a first aid kit. He took out a bit of gauze, and poured some water from his canteen onto it. He then began dabbing at the stitches on her neck, and wrists, he hesitated as he reached for her shoulder, which was covered by the sleeve of her t-shirt.

"May I?" he asked politely.

Pacifica nodded. Dipper pushed the sleeve down and began dabbing at the stitching to take away the blood. Once he'd finished, he grabbed her foot, set it in his lap, took off the hiking boot and sock, and cleaned off the stitching on her heel.

Pacifica smiled. Yeah, he always knew what she needed, and he never hesitated to give it to her. As soon as he finished, he replaced the sock and shoe, and his phone went off.

Dipper pulled it out, a smile grew on his face as he answered. "Hey, Mabel…yeah, Pacifica's with me…what…" his smile disappeared. Pacifica grew uneasy.

"…but why would they…he what…that idiot! Well, no one is believing any of this crap, right?..." he suddenly grinned and let out a small chuckle. "Mabel, you are the bomb…please do not put that on any of your merchandise…okay, just 'you're the bomb' is okay…so, is there any search party…"

Search party? Pacifica's insides grew cold. They were still looking for her?

"…well, that's good I guess…" Dipper sighed. "I dunno Mabel, I dunno if that's best for her…well, here, you explain it to her."

Dipper handed the phone to Pacifica. "Hello?"

"Pazzy! We got a huge situation here!" Mabel called from the other line. "Your stupid parents somehow got a spot on Toby Determined's show. And they were going on and on about how you'd just disappeared, and they were so sad, and how they had no clue what had happened, and just wanted their little angel back. Of course, your's truly, called in and put everything straight. Then I talked to Sheriff Blubbs, and he called in a little later and backed me up. So far, everyone in Gravity Falls is believing us not them, but you gotta call them and tell them to leave you alone, Pacifica! I don't think they're gonna let up on this search until they hear it from your mouth! They said so on TV. And they still have their rich friends looking for you, and that creep Zachary is whining to everyone how he didn't even get a small taste of it! Yeah, you gotta tell them to cut it out!"

"But-But, they won't listen to me!" Pacifica cried. "And if I call they'll just get my number and be able to track me."

"Don't worry, I think Grunkle Ford has some sort of shadow phone that won't let that happen. But you gotta try, Pacifica. If that doesn't work, we'll figure out something else."

Pacifica sighed and nodded. "Okay."

"Okay, I'll keep you posted on what's happening here. And, if you need a support boost, ask Dipper for a hug. He gives the best hugs."

Mabel hung up, and Pacifica sighed again as she leaned her head back and closed her eyes. Dipper gently took the phone from her.

"Listen, Pacifica, you don't have to-"

"No." Pacifica shook her head. "No, I have to face them. Or, you know, speak to them."

"You sure?" Dipper looked worried.

Pacifica nodded. "As soon as we get back to the hotel I'm calling them."

 **IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

Pacifica stared at the shadow phone in her hands. Dipper sat next to her on her bed, a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked.

"Yes," Pacifica nodded. She began to dial her parent's number and took a deep breath as she held the phone to her ear. The other line rang several times before Priscilla's voice answered on the other end.

"Hello."

"Mom," Pacifica said in a matter-of-fact voice.

"Pacifica!" her mother shrieked. "What on earth are you doing? This is ridiculous and humiliating! We've been going all over the state looking for you!"

"I'm not in the state."

"Where are you!?"

"I'm not telling you."

"You need to come home right now! This whole situation is absurd! Do you know the scene you've caused for us? By tomorrow morning you better be on our doorstep, and you better get on your knees and beg for forgiveness and hope we are in a generous mood!"

Pacifica took in a deep breath before answering, "No."

"What did you just say?"

"No. Put me on speaker."

"You don't tell us no! You don't talk to us unless spoken to! You do what we tell you and you shut-"

"Put me on speaker with you and dad."

"No! I'm not listening to you. You little brat! Slut! Whore! Piece of-"

"Put me on speaker or I'm hanging up," Pacifica's bottom lip was trembling, but she kept her voice steady. There was a pause before Priscilla called. "Okay, we're both here on you're on speaker."

"Now listen her, you worthless-" Preston began.

"No! Shut up!" Pacifica cried. "It's my turn to talk!"

"You don't get a turn!" Preston called. "You don't talk! You obey, that's your only roll. Now-"

"Let me talk or I'm hanging up and I'm never calling again."

The other end grew quiet. Pacifica took in a deep breath and continued. "Even before I was born, you could have killed me with your lifestyles. Until I was eight, you burned me with cigars. You conditioned me through torture to obey a bell until I was twelve. You'd lock me in my room if I were too bruised to go outside, or if I got too rowdy and embarrass you. You'd starve me if you thought I was too chubby. And then you tried to force me to marry a total stranger who would probably just beat and take advantage of me every night. You cared-"

"We did all the shape you to-"

"I'm not finished!" Pacifica screamed, and then continued. "All you ever did was abuse me. You never loved me. You want to know why I ran away. You pushed me away. I got tired of it all. The abuse, the hatred, the pain. I was not about to let you force me into a lifetime of it with that jerk you found on , or wherever you found him."

"This is ridiculous. Stop this temper tantrum this instance and come home!" Preston ordered.

Pacifica glanced at Dipper out of the corner of her eye. His hands were balled into fists as he listened to the conversation. He looked ready to break someone's face. He cared about her. He'd protect her. And so would Stan and Ford. This life may have not been as glamorous as she was used to, but she was slowly starting to realize that she didn't need that. Hearing the animosity in her parent's voices, and realizing that THAT had been what she'd been used to living with for 18 years, versus the love and acceptance she'd received the past month, and the effort and work that they'd given to her to free her from this hatred.

"I'm already home," she told her parents.

"Pacifica!" They both gasped. "after everything we've don-"

"No!" Pacifica cried. "No-o oh, ho, ho! No! You two pieces of junk never did anything for me other than abuse and damage me. So, just this once, I'm asking you to do me a favor. Let me go. Don't look for me. Don't call me. I'm not coming back. I'm happy where I am. Just leave me be."

There was a long pause before Preston answered. "You want us to cut you off, so be it."

The call ended. Pacifica dropped the phone into her lap and covered her face in her hands. No going back now. Her parents, the only family she'd ever had, were gone. Yeah, they were wicked, but they were all she'd ever known. They hadn't even begged her or apologize, just scolded and belittled her. This horror she'd discussed with Dipper was really real, and now it was gone. And for some stupid reason she was sad.

Dipper pulled her into a tight hug and stroked her hair.

"Sh," he whispered. "It's okay. I'm proud of you, Pacifica. I know that was hard."

"P-proud?" Pacifica gasped.

It suddenly dawned on Dipper that she'd probably never had anyone tell her that. He held her closer. Taking a chance, he buried his face in her hair and rubbed her back.

"I am," he continued. "I really am proud of you. I told you that you were brave."

Pacifica sniffled against his shirt as she clung desperately to him. She took a few shaky breaths as she tried to calm herself, but she just dissolved back into sobbing.

"There you go," Dipper patted her head. "That's it, just let it out. Nothing has to leave this room. I won't let anyone know you ugly cry."

Pacifica let out a small chuckle as tension left her body.

"Thank you, Dipper," Pacifica whispered. "For being here."

"Don't mention it," Dipper patted her back as she began crying again. All the emotions of the past two months, or really the past 18 years, came pouring out, and they wouldn't stop. The floodgates had been opened, and she couldn't close them until everything had been cried out.

Soon, Pacifica cried herself to sleep. Dipper scooped her up so he could pull back the covers on the bed. He was starting to get used to carrying her around, but for some odd reason he didn't mind. He set her down on the bed and tucked her in. He stared at her for a moment before leaving. She was so strong. Stronger than he would have ever imagined, and brave, and intelligent, and hardworking; the exact opposite of what he'd thought she'd be like all those years ago. Now, all of a sudden instead of hating her, he was admiring her.

He smiled sadly at he sleeping form as he stepped out of her hotel room. She really did deserve more than she'd gotten in life, and while he couldn't change the past, he could make sure the rest of her life would be everything would need or deserve.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen:

Pacifica slowly began to awake. Her eyes were puffy and burning, her throat felt like it had a jagged knife caught in it, and her sinuses were throbbing. She slowly stood up and walked into the bathroom. She turned the sink on and splash cold water on her face to try to loosen up the pain. Her entire body felt heavy, like it was filled with water. She cleaned the rest of herself up. She tried to put on her make-up, but it didn't improve anything so she washed it off.

She finished packing up her bags so they could go onto the next and final location in Mexico. As she zipped up her bag, Dipper knocked on the door and entered.

"Need help?" he asked.

Pacifica shrugged. Dipper picked up her bag and carried it out. Pacifica checked about her room to make sure she hadn't left anything and then walked out towards the jeep. She slipped into the back seat with Dipper and they began driving off. Nobody said anything as they drove in silence. Pacifica just leaned her elbow on the window and her chin in her hand as she watched the scenery float by. Dipper read a new book next to her, Ford was texting someone, supposedly the University, and Stan was just focused on driving.

About an hour into the drive, Pacifica felt a strong hand on her shoulder. She didn't resist as Dipper pulled her against him. She just leaned her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. Dipper didn't say anything, and in a few minutes went back to reading his book, but still kept one arm around her shoulder. She couldn't explain how, but for some reason this helped, being close to him. Maybe it was just the assurance that even though her parents were completely cut out of her life, she had other people who would care for her. Who would love her.

Love?

Pacifica gasped a bit. Dipper turned and glanced at her, but seeing as her eyes were closed, he simply thought she was asleep and dreaming, so he said nothing and went back to reading. Little did he know the thoughts that were swirling in her mind:

Of course, not! Of course when she thought "love" she meant like a brother or a good best friend. Right? I mean, he'd given no signs that he was interested in her. Yeah he did nice things, but that was just Dipper…

…and that was why she liked him. No. Wait! No she didn't! Did she?

Pacifica cautiously opened one eye to look at him, his brow furrowed in concentration as he processed the words on the page. All of the childish squishiness that had dominated his face when they'd first met had disappeared to reveal a chiseled jaw line, which seemed to only emphasize his goofy grin and large, kind, brown eyes. His hair still had it's messy wavy quality that it had when he was twelve. He was still a beanpole, but the lean muscles he did possess were well defined and very distracting.

Pacifica closed her eyes again and smiled. He might still be a nerd, but he was a very handsome nerd, and kind, and gentle, and intelligent, and brave. He'd gone above and beyond to help her in anyway possible, and she appreciated it, but enough that it made her like him?

Maybe.

Probably.

Pacifica sighed.

Yes.

But he clearly didn't feel the same way about her, did he? She could just ask. Boy, that would be awkward! No, bad idea. She sighed again. She could just wait…yeah, that was the best course of action, just wait and let this play out. Watch where it goes. Maybe, just maybe, he felt the same way, or he would in time. Maybe? Hopefully? Please!

 **IIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

"Well, we're getting closer!" Ford called from the front seat after about 7 hours of driving. "You can at least see where we're going."

Pacifica looked out the window and could see two giant mountains looming in the distance.

"Iztaccihuatl and Popocatepetl," Ford called.

"What?" Pacifica asked.

"Or as I like to call them, Popo and Itza!" Stan replied.

"Anyways," Ford sighed, annoyed. "These two volcanoes are central to an ancient legend told by the Native people of Mexico. According to the legend, Iztaccihuatl was the princess of the Aztecs, and she was in love with a warrior named Popocatepetl. Her father, the Emperor, however, did not approve of the union. So he told Popocatepetl that in order to win his daughter had, he'd have to bring him the head of the chief of an enemy tribe. Thinking there was no way Popocatepetl would survive the task, the emperor began seeking out other suitors for his daughter. Distraught and heartbroken, Iztaccihuatl decided to take her own life so she could be reunited with her beloved in the afterlife."

"When Popocatepetl returned home and heard the news, he took Iztaccihuatl's body and began to climb up a giant mountain, think that if he could reach the top the gods would bring her back to life. Sadly, though, he froze to death on the way up. Enraged by the tragic circumstances, his spirit took over the mountain and turned it into a volcano so he could spurt fire and lava onto to Iztaccihuatl's father's kingdom for ruining their chance to be together. The gods saw the seen, and took pity on the two young lovers, so they formed a mountain next to Popocatepetl's volcano for Iztaccihatl's spirit to reside. Now the two lovers will never have to be a part again."

Pacifica let out a small romantic sigh at the story. At least she didn't have to go to those lengths to get out of an unwanted marriage.

"So, as our final order of business in good old Mexico," Stan explained. "We're gonna go see if the ghosts of the two lovers are still kicking. Ford and I will hike up one mountain while you two kids go up the other."

"By ourselves?" Pacifica squeaked.

"What, you don't trust me to keep you safe?" Dipper asked sarcastically. Pacifica elbowed him in the shoulder, causing him to grin.

"You'll be fine, Pacifica," Ford assured her. "You've shown that you're more than capable of handling yourself."

Pacifica grinned slightly. They didn't make it to the foot of the mountains that night, so they had to stop at a roadside hotel. Even though they'd done nothing by drive all day, Pacifica found herself absolutely exhausted. She didn't even make it long enough to change out of her pajamas. She just made it to her room, crashed on the bed, and fell asleep.

The next morning she woke up feeling stiff and, well, dirty. She sat up and stretched her back and arms. She ran a hand through her hair as she opened her eyes, and found a trio of short men with long beards standing at the foot of her bed.

"Ah!" she screeched as she jumped to the head board of the bed, only to find four more of the tiny men perched up there with her. She screeched again and tumbled off into the floor.

"No, no, no! Don't be scared!" one of the men called in a Spanish accent as he jumped to the floor. "We do not mean to scare you. We have just come to admire how beautiful you are."

"Get out of here you creeps!" Pacifica kicked the little man back and scrambled to get to her feet.

"Please just listen!" another man called as he replaced the first. "Recently our queen has passed on, may she rest in peace, and now we have been searching to find a-"

"Aw, no you don't!" A broom slammed onto the head of the speaking man. Pacifica turned and saw Dipper standing behind her.

"C'mon, you short creeps! Stop stalking women, and get out! Out! Out! Out!" Dipper began practically sweeping the short men out of the room.

"Listen to me, boy!" one of the shouted. "You do not know who you are-"

Dipper pulled a taser out of his pocket and zapped it once. All of the tiny men screeched, and began to scamper out the door as Dipper zapped the taser after the two more times. He sighed and shook his head as he offer Pacifica his hand.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, thanks," Pacifica stood to her feet. "What were those?"

"Gnomes," Dipper answered. "Their called 'duendes' here. They're creeps, but if you know how to handle them they're pretty harmless."

"I assume you've handled them before?"

"I'm Mabel's brother," Dipper sighed. "You can probably imagine the rest."

"She didn't try to date one did she?"

"Six, actually. Stacked on top of each other. Disguised as a teenager. And I though it was a zombie."

Pacifica burst out laughing. "Oh, you Pines."

"Yeah, gotta love us, right?"

"Yeah," Pacifica hung her head and blushed. Dipper set his hand on her shoulder.

"Feeling any better?"

"Yeah."

"Ready to head out?"

"I will be in a minute."

"Okay, we'll get breakfast on the road, so don't worry about getting any yet."

"Okay."

Dipper left and closed the door behind him. It was good to see her laugh again, even if he had to chase off another gnome hoard to do it. As he walked down the hall, he saw two gnomes trying to sneak back in.

"No you don't!" Dipper whacked them over the heads with another broom and chased them out of the hotel and down the street.

 **IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

By noon they'd reach the first hiking checkpoint.

"Alright," Ford said as he began unloading your gear. "Take your stuff and we gotta decide who goes where. I say we-"

"Dipper!" Stan cut in as he raced to the younger man. "Call it in the air, heads or tails. Go!" Stan flipped a coin into the air.

"Tails!" Dipper shouted.

Stan caught it and slapped it on the back of her hand. "Heads. Ha, ha, ha!"

"Man!" Dipper shook his head.

"I say Ford and I take the less dangerous mountain, Itza!"

"Aw, c'mon, really? Really?" Dipper asked.

"Don't worry, the volcano is not active right now," Ford assured the two younger people. "It should take you until about noon tomorrow to make it high enough to contact with the ghost. If you have to go slower, please do so, we don't want you hurting yourselves."

Dipper and Pacifica nodded and began gearing up for the hike. Pacifica struggled to get tighten the straps on her back pack. Dipper helped her out as he spoke to her.

"You ready for this?"

"I guess, I've never been on a real hike before."

"It's not that bad. We'll take breaks as you need them."

"I don't want to slow us down."

"Don't worry about it, we've still got a whle before we're expected to be back in Maryland. We've been making good time."

Pacifica shrugged, "Still, don't let me get in your way."

"You won't," Dipper assured her as he led her into the hiking lodge. It was nothing more than a small shack with several maps and artwork of the two lovers hanging on the walls, hiking equipment hanging from the ceiling, a desk with a few guides hanging out behind it, and in a small corner, a gift shop. As Dipper spoke to the guides behind the desk, Pacifica began to inspect the gift shop. On one of the shelves was a polished wooden box with a picture of the mountains etched into the top. Pacifica picked it up and opened it. Two figurines of the two lovers popped out and began dancing together as a melancholy little tune played.

Pacifica smiled at the music box as she swayed to the tune of the song.

"Okay, we're ready," Dipper called.

Pacifica jumped and quickly put the box back. "Okay."

"See something you like?" Dipper asked as he looked at the box.

"Just looking," Pacifica answered as she adjusted her backpack and walked over to where their guide was waiting.

 **IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

Pacifica panted as she tried to keep up with the two men in front of her. Her feet hurt, her back ached, her fingers were numb from the ever cooling wind. She refused to slow down, though. She had to keep up. She had to pull her own weight.

Presently the guide climbed up onto a large stone, and eagerly motioned for Dipper and Pacifica to come up and meet him.

"Vamos! Vamos! Rapido!" he cheered.

Pacifica tried to pick up the pace, but found she couldn't go any faster than she was already going. Dipper stopped as he reached the foot of the rock and waited for her.

"You didn't have to slow down," she told him once she reached him. "I'm just fine-whoa!"

Dipper grabbed her by the waist, picked her up, and set her on top of the rock and then climbed up after her.

Pacifica blushed as she pushed her hair behind her ear.

"Mira!" the guide cried to them as he pointed out to the horizon. Pacifica looked out, and gasped. The sun was slowly setting behind the land below. The sky was painted in a brilliant, buttery clouds of reddish orange sailed by. The sun slowly dipped below the horizon, and shot out veins of red from it's orange center. As it slowly disappeared the veins of red began to bleed their color into the rest of the sky, a sea of purple began to float up from the ground and taint the clouds with it's deep violet. Soon the biting night wind blue in a blanket of dark blue that consumed the whole sky, and then slowly faded into black.

Pacifica sighed loudly as the moon found it's mark in the heavens. Dipper glanced at her, and he too gasped. The moonlight highlighted her golden hair in a way he'd never seen before. Her face, for one unmarred or burdened by make-up was left to it's pure vulnerability to let nature do it's own artwork on it. Her plump, pink lips were curled up into a bright smile, and her eyes, which he always though were blue, looked now as if they were violet, two sparkling amethysts dancing in the moonlight.

It was strange, he'd known Pacifica since he was a boy and had seen her numerous times, but this: this brave and adventurous young woman, standing at the edge of a large boulder on a magnificent volcano, admiring nature and all it's wonder without having to hide behind any make-up or brand names. It suddenly dawned on him. That snobby rich girl he'd met so many years ago was just a mask, a shield she'd put on to protect herself from reprimand or beating. But this…this wide eyed and curious angel battling against all the dangers and seeking out all the mysteries of the world, this was the real Pacifica.

"Beautiful," he sighed as he admired her.

"I know," Pacifica grinned. "I've never seen a sunset like that."

Dipper blushed as he looked back towards the now darkened sky. "Yeah…sunset."

The guide called for them to follow him.

"What did he say?" Pacifica asked.

"He said we've got just a little more to go before we can rest for the night," Dipper explained as he offered her his hand to help her climb down from the boulder. Once they reached the bottom, however, he was reluctant to let go. He did though, knowing he had no right to hold onto that way since she'd given him no signs she was as interested in him as…

…what the heck was he doing? Was he really crushing on Pacifica?

Shaking his head, he pushed his thoughts aside until they made camp, pitched their separate tents, and Dipper lied down to sleep. It was then his thoughts began to creep back in. When had he started feeling this way, exactly? Tonight? No, it was before that, he knew it. Tonight was just the first time he'd realized it. But where did it start? When she called her parents? When they ran away from the chupacabras? When she fought El Cuco? When he nearly lost her in a sea current? When she agreed to go with them? WHEN, DARN IT!?

Dipper sighed as he ran a hand over his face. "I'm losing it. Must be the altitude."

He rolled back over and forced himself to go to sleep.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen:

Pacifica felt like she was floating. Ahead of her she saw the magnificent Mexican sunset. It's yellow, oranges, red, and purples surrounding her as she stood majestic on the top of a volcano. As she admired the scene around her she could hear a melancholy song come from the crater in the top of the volcano. She walked over and peaked in. Floating in the middle of the chasm were the two lovers, Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl, dancing in each other's embrace. As they twirled and spun, Iztaccihuatl's hair began to brighten from it's raven black to a golden blond. Popocatepetl's hair shorten drastically and began to change to brown. Their outfits melted from traditional native wear to a lake-foam green dress and a strapping black tux.

Pacifica gasped as she realized that the two lovers had transformed into her and Dipper. She smiled at the sight and sighed contentedly.

 **IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

"Pacifica?" Dipper carefully shook her as he tried to wake her.

Pacifica slowly opened her eyes and felt the hard, cold ground underneath her sleeping bag. She groaned, unwilling to leave her dream. She had to wake up, though, and when she did she was overwhelmed by a throbbing headache, and a wave of nausea. Pacifica raced out of tent, bent over a little ways out of camp and vomited out what was left of her dinner.

"Uh, oh," Dipper said as he approached her. "Yup, altitude sickness." Dipper walked back to his back pack and pulled out a medicine bottle. He took one pill and his canteen and walked back to her.

"Take this it will help."

Pacifica gulped down the pill and rubbed her forehead to try to relieve the headache.

"Just give it a minute to kick in," he told her as he patted her back.

The guide shouted at them.

"Un Minuto!" Dipper yelled back. He patted her hair again. "Just take your time, we got all day."

Within a few minutes Pacifica was feeling well enough to walk. Her head still throbbed, but her stomach wasn't bothering as much it was before. As they marched on ward she the pounding persisted, she didn't complain though. She just kept walking. They walked until the noon, when the sun was straight above them. They then stopped just long enough to eat lunch, when Dipper pulled out some kind of monitor. They kept going for about an hour and a half before Dipper stopped. He was looked back down at his monitor.

"I'm getting a lot of activity on the monitor," he said. "Let's see if we can make contact."

Pacifica began to feel a bit uneasy.

"Don't worry," Dipper said. "I don't think it'll hurt us. Hopefully it'll just wanna talk."

"Yeah, that's what you said the last time we hunted a ghost."

"Hey, I was twelve, I've gotten better at this since then," he chuckled as he pulled out a small, mechanical bow. He turned in on and a static sound began to emit from it. Dipper stood up, held it out at arms length.

"Is there anyone here with us?" he asked.

There was no reply.

"We're not here to hurt you," Dipper continued. "We just want to talk. Can you hear us?"

There was a pause before a very faint "yes" played over the box. Pacifica almost jumped out of her skin as Dipper laughed gleefully.

"Are you Popocatepetl?"

"Yes."

Dipper cheered again.

"Did you die here?"

"Yes."

Dipper gasped and Pacifica began to giggle like an idiot. This was amazing! And not nearly as scary as the last encounter six years ago.

"Did you come here trying to save your love?"

"Yes."

Pacifica clasped her hands to her mouth. The poor man!

"Do you have anything you want to say?" Dipper finally asked.

"…take…now…don't…let go…"

Pacifica frowned, confused. "Take. Now. Don't let go."

Dipper shrugged, "I'm not sure."

"Hold…love…"

Pacifica perked up. "Take. Now. Don't. Let go. Hold. Love…Take a chance no and don't let go of and hold onto love? Is that what you're trying to say?"

"…yes."

Dipper and Pacifica glanced at each other. Was this ghost…no…that couldn't be.

They asked a few more questions, tried to get more response, but the voice didn't come back, so they packed up and began the trek back down.

 **IIIIIIIIIIII**

"…Pacifica?"

Pacifica opened her eyes and found that she was leaned against the jeep window. She looked around as saw that they were parked just next to the dock and Maztlan.

"We're back," Dipper said as he unbuckled and got out of the jeep. Pacifica stepped out and stretched. She pulled out her phone to check the time. 12:30. December 1st.

Pacifica gave a small grin. Four months. It had already been almost four months since she'd made the decision to leave her parents and their rich life behind. She still wasn't quite used to this adventuring paranormal lifestyle yet, but she was getting there, and pretty soon she was sure she'd be able to fully enjoy it. Pacifica pulled her bags out of the back of the jeep and walked on board the Stan-o-War. The minute she reached the dock, her phone began to ring. She pulled it out, looked down, and saw the name "Mabel" flashing across the screen. She grinned and answered.

"Hello?"

"Paz…" Mabel voice broke off into sobs. Pacifica's insides grew cold.

"Mabel?"

"Pacifica, I'm so sorry…"


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen:

"Bueno, Gracias," Dipper told to car rental agent as he drove the jeep off.

"I'm gonna miss that car," Stan sighed sadly. "It had a good kick to it."

"Oh, Stanley," Ford sighed as the three men began to climb on board the Stan-o-War, Stan leading the way.

"Oh, come on, don't act like you didn't…kid?"

Dipper felt his heart skip a beat as he sped up to get to the dock, and found Pacifica crumpled in a pained heap on the deck, her hand clutching her phone desperately.

"…everything…?" she was sobbing. "…everything…?"

Though Dipper couldn't understand what the person on the other line was saying, he recognized Mabel's voice.

"Pacifica, what happened?" he asked as he knelt to her side. Tears were pouring down her face. She shook her head, not responding, and simply handed the phone to Dipper. Dipper took it and held it to his ear.

"Mabel?"

"Bro-Bro…"

"What happened?"

"Pacifica's parents!" Mabel began sobbing. "All of Pacifica's things…al her clothes, her toys, her fancy dresses, her jewelry, the painting on her bedroom wall, her blankets, even her baby pictures, they threw them all in the yard and burned them!"

Dipper's insides grew both cold and hot and the same time; cold for absolute shock and horror, hot for utter rage and fury.

"It's all gone…?"

"Not all of it," Mabel sniffed. "Me, Grenda, Candy, and Marius managed to save some of it, but not much. And it all smells like smoke!"

"What did you save?"

"Let's see…" he could hear Mabel rummaging through some stuff. "A pagent crown, but it's got a dent in it now, her senior pictures album, the cover has been burnt, but the pictures themselves are okay. A baby dress, and teddy bear, a quilt, a toy sheep, a picture of her at about 9 or 10. Her graduation cap, the tassle's gone though. Some story books, some building block. 12 baby pictures, 5 of them are scratched up because the glass from the picture frames broke though. A ratte, one baby bootie, I tried to grab the other but it was already long gone. The skirt to her prom dress, the bodice is all burned up. And that's it! Everything else is gone! If only we'd gotten there sooner!"

"No, no, it's not you fault Mabel," Dipper assured her. "You managed to save some of it, that's all that matters."

"I know, but…" Mabel sniffled. "Poor Pacifica! How could they just…"

"I dunno Mabel," Dipper answered through gritted teeth. "Look, try and get some sleep, it's got to be early morning there. Go back after you get some rest and see if anything else survived. There's nothing else you can do besides that."

"Okay," Mabel sniffled. "I'll try…"

"Hey, if you can't sleep, take out your anger by making some knew designs for notebook covers."

"It'll all be black and droopy if I do," Mabel despaired. "Maybe I'll have a few emo's in my demographic."

Dipper let out a half-hearted chuckled. "Maybe. Try not to worry about it."

"Okay," Mabel hung up and Dipper clutched the phone so tightly he was in fear of breaking it. How could they? As if everything they'd done wasn't bad enough, they had to go and pull this stunt.

 _How could they!?_

By now Pacifica had choked out the news to Stan and Ford. Ford had her in his arms, trying to comfort her, while Stan was storming about the deck screaming at the top of his lungs.

"There, there, now," Ford told her. "It'll all be okay, we'll think of something."

"If I ever get my hands on those bozos, I swear, I'm gonna know the golden teeth right out of them! They won't even know what hit them! I'm gonna hit them so hard it will make that scammer who started their family wealth all the way back in history dizzy!"

Dipper was leaning more towards Stan's approach, but his intellectual side told him throwing a fit wouldn't fix anything. If the Northwest were standing in front of him right now, though? Oh, ho, ho, ho, there would be hell to pay! But for now, he just stood there, not sure what to do. He wanted to help, but he didn't know how.

Actually, yes, he did.

Picking up his back-pack again, he snuck downstairs.

 **IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

Pacifica trudged down the stairs below deck. They'd already set sail, as Stan was too wound up to sleep and suggested he stay awake a sail them into open water to calm down. Just on cue with the melancholy situation, a storm had hit, the rain and thunder just dampening her mood all the more.

She was stupid for leaving her stuff there, she should have known! But at the same time, how would she have gotten it all out. She opened the door to her room, and was shocked to find Dipper standing there, hanging a picture up on her wall.

"Dipper?"

"Oh, hey," he said nervously as he turned around.

"What are you-" Pacifica took a step in, then stopped and gasped. The picture he was hanging on the wall was of the sunset they'd seen on Popocatepetl. Spread out on her bed were five outfits; one simple evening gown with a halter top and sheath skirt, a white shirt with yellow embroidery along the collar and a matching yellow skirt, a sleeveless purple dress with traditional Mexican embroidery on the bodice that was fitted until just below the hip, then had ruffles flaring out, a traditional, green Mexican party dress with a modern flair, such as no puffed sleeves and a slit up the leg, and a gray cocktail dress with Mexican lace. Pacifica gasped when she realized these were the dresses she'd looked at in the marketplace. How had he…

Above each dress was a jewelry set.

A pearl jewelry set, made of the pearls they'd found in the oysters Dipper had caught. The black pearls were spread out on a silver chain with plain stud earrings, and a simple silver and pearl ring. 10 yellow pearls were bunched together on a pin that hung from a gold chain, a matching bracelet with three pearls went alongside it, and dangling earrings with a single pearl at the end of each. 12 purple pearls clustered together on a silver chain necklace, five on a bracelet, and two on each earring. The green perals were spread out on several adjoining silver threads, with a matching bracelet and stud earrings. The grey pearls were made into a simple choker and also had matching studs.

Pacifica ran her hand over each of the jewelry sets. She almost tripped, and when she looked down to see what she'd stepped on, she saw five sets of heels that all matched their respective dress. Pacifica looked up at Dipper, her mouth agape, when she noticed on the dressed behind him, the music box from the hiking gift shop.

"I was going to save this all for Christmas, but I think you could use them now. I know it doesn't replace anything, but I just thought-"

Pacifica collapsed to the floor and sobbed. Dipper knelt next to her and rubbed her back

"It's…it's…" Pacifica sobbed. "Just…thank you…how did you know that…Oh, thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Pacifica clung to him, sobbing. Dipper held her, his heart aching for her.

"Your welcome," he told her.

"It's almost too much," Pacifica said. "No, it is. Dipper h-h-h-how? Why? I don't think I can-"

"Sure you can, don't worry about it," Dipper told her.

"Just…" Pacifica sighed. There were no words for what he'd done. He was just…amazing! Incredible! The best guy in the world! Still, that didn't change what had happened that night.

Pacifica pulled away after a few minutes, and pulled her knees up to her chest as she stared at the water out her window slushing back and forth in the storm.

"Pacifica?" Dipper asked. "Do you want to…I don't know, talk about it?"

"I'm not surprised," she answered. "I'm just…bummed out."

"I'd be a little more than 'bummed out' if I were you," Dipper said. Then he nodded. "But…Yeah, that was pretty low what they did. At least Mabel and them managed to save some things for you."

Pacifica nodded. "Yeah, it could be worse I guess." She leaned her face on her knees. It could be worse. She had a place to stay, with people who cared about her, maybe not in the way she wanted exactly for one of them, but they did care about her. She was safe. She was cared for. She had a job that paid enough for her to afford everything she needed. This was just like her parents to burn all of her childhood things. She shouldn't be shocked, or that torn up, but she was.

A pretty little tune began playing. Pacifica picked up her head to see Dipper setting the music box down. He walked over to her and held out his hand. Pacifica took it and he helped her to his feet. They set his hand on her waist and intertwined the fingers of his other hand with hers and began to sway. Pacifica followed him as he twirled and spun her around the room to the melody of the music. The corner of her mouth curled up in a small smile. Dipper pulled her closer to him and moved his hand to her back. Pacifica's heart fluttered and she grinned as she set her free hand on his shoulder.

The boat suddenly jolted forward on a large wave, knocking both of them to the floor. Dipper landed on his back, and Pacifica on top of him. They both laughed as Dipper sat up, Pacifica still in his lap, their arms still around them. They stared at each other. Just a few weeks ago they would have been bumbling and stammering to get out of their current position. But now it just felt they didn't feel awkward or embarrassed. As crazy as it was the way they were now, wrapped in each other's arms, just felt…right.

Pacifica's heart froze as they stared back at each other. They were very different. He was a humble and goofy nerd, she was a stuck-up, no nonsense diva. And yet they had so much in common; less than ideal parents, having to basically raise themselves for a good portion of their childhoods, their love of adventure, their endurance to never give up, and to never settle for second best.

Dipper pushed a strand of hair out of her face, his eyes glued on hers. She didn't push him away, or sneer; she just let him smooth her hair-

-then it happened. Neither was sure who moved first, but in an instant, their lips were pressed together, and their arms were wrapped around each other's necks. The kiss only lasted for a few seconds before they broke apart. Pacifica placed a hand to her mouth as Dipper slowly let his eyes flutter open.

"Wha-" he asked. "What did we just do?"

"I…" Pacifica ran a finger over her lower lip. "I think we just kissed."

"Did we want to kiss?" Dipper asked, still in a trance.

"I…I dunno," Pacifica replied. "I think so?"

Dipper scratched his head. "Did…did we ever talk about us being a…you know…?"

Pacifica shook her head. "No."

"Then why did we-"

"I dunno."

Dipper ran a hand over his face. "You know what else is crazy?"

"What?" Pacifica asked eagerly.

"I kinda want to do it again," Dipper blushed as he turned away.

"Me too," Pacifica confessed.

Dipper perked up. "Really?"

Pacifica nodded.

"Is that a good idea?" Dipper worried.

"I'm not sure," Pacifica sighed, then chuckled. "But neither is swimming with giant sharks, hunting down a boogie man, going in a cave of blood suckers, or climbing up a volcano to talk to ghosts."

"Good point," Dipper shrugged, then dived forward and caught her lips with his. Pacifica ran her fingers through his hair as she kissed him back. Everything around her melted away as she melted into the kiss. For a brief moment she and Dipper were the only things that existed in the world. Dipper suddenly pulled away, causing her to whimper in disappointment.

"Okay," he gasped as he ran his hands over his face. "This…this is getting dangerous. I-I-I don't know what I'm doing, I don't want to lose control of myself and…well…I don't know what we're doing, and I don't want to cross any lines. Aw, heck, who am I kidding! I just kissed you! Twice! I already crossed a line!"

He turned his back to her and tried to straighten his hair back out.

"I…I didn't mind," Pacifica whispered.

Dipper stood to his feet and rubbed his chin as he faced her.

"But, do you not mind because you are hurt and lonely and just need something to distract you, or do you really…I don't know…like me?"

"I really like you!" Pacifica answered, then gasped as she clasped a hand over her mouth. Had she said that out loud?

Dipper sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "No. No, I can't do this. Not now."

Pacifica felt as if someone had stabbed her in the chest. "B-but why?"

"Because," Dipper explained. "You've been hurt, and you're upset, and lonely, and devastated and…well…you're not thinking straight! I can't-"

Dipper sighed. "How do I know this isn't just you being desperate? Okay, how do I know I'm not taking advantage of an emotionally damaged young woman?"

"Dipper it's not like that-" Pacifica tried to explain.

"How do you know?" Dipper asked. "You just found out that your parents burned every memory they'd ever had of you. You're in a tailspin. How do you know this isn't just you taking all this emotion out on someone?"

"Dipper, you're overthinking this!"

"Because I don't want to hurt you!" Dipper explained. "I don't want to make you do something you'll regret later. I'm trying to protect you, Pacifica."

Dipper jammed his hands in his pockets as he sighed. "Look, I don't know how you think of me, but I care about you. A lot. Probably…" he winced as he admitted to the next part. "-Probably more than I should. And I don't want to hurt you by coercing into something you don't really want."

"Dipper-"

"Just…not now. Not until you've had time to recover," Dipper insisted as he moved to the door. "Please, Pacifica. For both of our sakes."

 **AN: I told you there'd be Dipcifica! Well, sort of...Dipper's overthinking things again, isn't he? Oh, bless him!**

 ***EVIL BILL LAUGH***

 **Hope you enjoyed!**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen:

"Well, here we are!" Stan announced as he flourished a hand to the white, two story house to Pacifica. "Our second home! Whenever we aren't traversing the world on the Stan-o-War, we're crashing here."

"Actually, we're organizing, processing, and studying the research we've brought back," Ford said. "At least we're supposed to…" he gave Stan an accusing glare.

"Um…" Stan tried to look innocent. "Let's go in!"

He led the way in. Pacifica followed, her head hung, glancing at Dipper from the corner of her eye. He wouldn't look at her. He was staring straight ahead, expressionless. The two had hardly said a word to each other since their little smooch that night in the harbor. Pacifica sighed. The past week since then had been miserable. Not only was she dreading having to look at the condition of what was left of her childhood belongings, but she had to deal with her and Dipper's relationship being completely destroyed by awkwardness.

Why had she kissed him? That was such a stupid move! Then again, he had kissed her back. Twice. So he did like her back…right?

"Well hello there you moocher," Stan cheered as he stepped inside, Pacifica following him. Lying on the couch, a soda can in her hand, was a pretty young ginger dressed in a red flannel dress and torn up jeans.

"Don't worry, I won't stay long or eat all your food," she said as she stood up. "Hey, Paz."

Pacifica gave a small, sad smile. "Hey, Wendy."

Wendy picked up a box from behind the couch. "I figure this is what you want?"

Pacifica sighed as she set her bags down and took the box from her.

"Um, where is my room?" Pacifica asked.

"Upstairs, farthest down the hall," Ford answered. Pacifica nodded and head up the steps.

Stan sighed as he watched her go. "Poor, kid."

He and Ford started up the steps to their own respective rooms. Dipper started to go up the steps after them, then he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and found Wendy standing behind him. She looked scared, was biting her lip, and clutching her stomach.

"Hey, I need to talk to you…"

 **IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

Pacifica set the box in the middle of the floor. She stared at it, wanting to open it, but not wanting to at the same time. Finally, she did. A smothering odor of smoke struck her. She reached in and pulled out a pale pink and yellow baby blanket. She let out a small sigh of relief as she saw that it was in very good condition. She held it close to her chest, relief flooding her. As she looked back in the box, however, her heat sank. She pulled out a pile of sea-foam green satin out of the box, what was left of her senior prom dress. She smoothed it out. The bodice was completely gone, only a thin, black, charred line at about the waistline.

Tears slowly began to slip down her face. She smoothed the skirt again, then, for some odd reason, slipped the skirt on over her jeans and zipped up what was left of the back. Then she broke down. She covered her face as the tears fell, she composed herself long enough to pulled a teddy bear out of the bow and saw that it's back had a hole burned in its back. She broke down again. Ripping off what was left of the prom dress and marched downstairs. She didn't care if their relationship was on the rocks, she needed Dipper.

As she charged down the steps, however, she was met by what was to her, an unpleasant sight. Wendy was sitting on the couch, her face in her hands, sobbing. Dipper rubbing her back and saying something in a comforting manner. Her heart sank. He wasn't even going to be there for her anymore. He'd completely moved on past her, he didn't want to put up with her anymore. He was just moving on to a new, or this case, old chick! She turned and stormed up the steps, anger boiling inside her.

 **IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

"Sure you don't want stay a little while longer?" Dipper asked his old friend as they stood on the porch.

"Nah, I should be getting back. Besides, I gotta tell my dad at some point…" Wendy looked nervous as she said that last part.

Dipper shuddered at the thought. "Well, you need any help let me know."

Wendy grinned. "Sure thing," she gave Dipper a small punch in the shoulder. "You're a good guy, Dipper. I wish there were more guys like you."

She hung her head again.

Dipper frowned, knowing what she was implying. "Robbie's a sumbag."

"Yeah, he is."

"How's…you've told Tambry, right?"

"Sure I did. Of course she doesn't believe me, that purple haired idiot! Thinks this is all my fault. My fault? He lied to me! I ain't even mad at her for confronting me at Lazy Susan's the way she did, why's she gotta be mad at me?"

"She's probably just hurt. Y'know?" Dipper suggested.

Wendy sighed and shook her head. "I'm still an idiot, though. For believing him."

"Don't beat yourself up too much. You made a mistake, sure, we all do. But he's the one who lied, cheated, and took off."

Wendy gritted her teeth. "I hope Tambry divorces his emo hide and takes everything off him in alimony!"

"Wouldn't that be grand," Dipper chuckled.

Wendy sighed again. "Well, I should go."

"Alright. You know where Mabel's at so if you can't get a hold of me go to her. Be careful though, she'll try to dump you with all kinds of free samples from her merchandise for the newcomer."

"I might need it," Wendy sniffed.

"Well if you do need anything be sure to ask, we'll be there for you, even if your dad doesn't…well…sure you don't want to stay here and make a phone call instead of facing him in person?"

"No," Wendy shook her head. "I might be an idiot, but I'm not a coward." She shot her old friend a smile. "Take care of yourself and old Paz. She needs you more than I do I'll bet."

Dipper sighed. "I'm not sure she wants to talk to me anymore."

"Why is that."

"Well, things are kind of, awkward for us right now."

"Oh boy!" Wendy chuckled and shook her head. "How far did you take it?"

Dipper looked at her with a look of shock. "How did you-"

"I've been your age before, and have had my fair share of dumb screw ups. Obviously," Wendy patted her abdomen with a small, sad, smirk. "You two were alone and got caught up in the moment. So, question is, how far did you take it?"

"Just kissed," Dipper answered, before embarrassedly adding. "Twice."

"That's all?" Wendy asked. "Well, that's not too bad."

"Yeah, but now everything's just awkward between us. Because, well…because…"

"Hey, everybody has their embarrassing moments, this'll pass."

"I…I dunno."

"Why not?"

"Well, because…"

"Aw, Man!" Wendy guffawed. "You've fallen for her, haven't you?"

"What? No!" Dipper denied.

"Don't lie to me, Dipping Sauce. You're smitten aren't you?"

"I told you not to call me that," Dipper mumbled.

"Well, hey, go for it man! I didn't see any rings on her hand earlier."

"I don't know if that's a good idea."

"Why is that?"

"Well, she's going through so much right now. I don't know if she needs a budding relationship on top of all that. It might be too much for her. She could just get caught up in having a distraction and then realize months later that she's made a mistake. She might-"

"Dude, chill out a bit," Wendy cut him off. "It's really sweet that you want to do what's best for her, but maybe you should let her decide all that for herself."

Dipper leaned against the doorframe. "I think it's too late for that."

"Well, good luck to you pal, I think you're gonna need it" Wendy said as she stepped off the porch.

"You too."

"Thanks man!"


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen:

Pacifica sat at the end of her bed in the house as she unfolded a flyer.

"The Annual Lone Gate University Christmas Ball."

Pacifica nodded confidently as she smoothed down her hair and waltzed to her closet. If Dipper wanted to play her like that she could play along with his little game. She pulled out the long black and held it up to her. Yes, this would do. It could use a little work, but it would do. She hesitated a bit, this was one of the dresses he'd gotten to her, should she really mess with it? Well, sure, why not! He'd messed with her.

She laid the dress out on the bed. She pulled out the heels he'd gotten to go with the dress, she looked them over. Nope. Not tall enough. She pulled out a pen and paper and scribbled down "sexy high heels." She tapped her chin with her pen as she thought. She scribbled down a few other things, then put the list into her purse and walked downstairs. Stan was watching wrestling on the television.

"C'mon! Armbar takedown! Armbar takedown! There you go! Now kick him in the head!"

"Hey, Stan?" Pacifica asked.

"Yeah, watcha-OOOOHHHH! KO! Yeah, that's how you do it! I'm sorry, sweetheart, what were you saying?"

"Can any of you guys take me to the mall?"

"Eh, I dunno."

Pacifica groaned in annoyance.

"But, there's a shuttle that runs from 6 AM to 6 PM that can take you to the mall from campus. You'll just have to walk a couple block to get to the stop."

"Okay, thanks."

"Anytime, OH! ANOTHER KO!"

Pacifica stepped outside, shivering at the cold. A light snow was covering the ground as she made her way to the stop. When she got there she looked at the billboard to see which shuttle she needed to take. She soon made it to the mall, and after browsing the fashion, jewelry, sewing, and department stores, she went back to the shuttle and re-entered the house.

Dipper was sitting on the couch on the phone.

"…so how's Wendy?"

Pacifica gritted her teeth at the sound of the name as she slammed the front door behind her.

"Wait, hold up," Dipper said before lowering the phone. "Hey, Pacifica, what you go there?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Pacifica sneered as she mounted the stairs. Dipper frowned in confusion at the scene.

"Hey, bro-bro! You still there?" Mabel asked from the other end of the phone.

"Yeah, I'm still here," Dipper answered.

"What's going on in good old Maryland that's gotcha so scattered brained?"

"It's Pacifica. She's been acting weird."

"Probably just a little bummed because of all this poopy stuff that's been going on for her later. She'll snap back. Oh, did I tell you my first month of sales has been incredibly-stupendously successful?"

"Congrats, but I knew it would be."

"Guess what was the highest seller? The Farm Friends Fingers Gloves!"

Dipper shook his head. "Of course it did."

"Yeah, I actually made so much money I was able to hire an assistant!"

"Who?"

"Wendy, duh!"

"Yeah, how's she doing?" Dipper asked nervously. "How'd her dad take it?"

"Not well. He cut her off."

Dipper growled in frustration. "That caveman!"

"She's doing well, though. Wendy's tough, she'll beat this. I think the shock is wearing off now so that good ol' Wendy determination is kicking in. She scheduled her first appointment this morning."

"Has she talked to Robbie or Tambry again?"

"She tried to, but Robbie's still denying it's his. Tambry, I dunno, you know she's pregnant too, right?"

Dipper rubbed a hand over his face. "So they're both having Robbie's baby at the same time. Man I hate that guy!"

"Me too, I got my grappling hook stuck under my desk just waiting for him to come waltzing in. Wapowie! Grappling hook to the face, that's what he'll get!"

"She need any help?"

"Um…" Mable thought for a bit. "Not right now. She might nearer the birth to buy cribs and strollers and stuff."

"Okay, make sure to keep me posted."

"I will. Oh! There's a new buyer emailing me! Gotta go, see yah bro-bro!"

Mabel hung up before Dipper could say bye. Dipper chuckled as he shook his head and set the phone down on the table next to a dry cleaning receipt. Oh, yeah, the Christmas formal.

 **IIIIIIIIIIIII**

Pacifica examined herself one more time in the mirror, checking her make-up. She smiled at her reflection. The maroon lipstick was definitely giving off the desired effect. She smoothed out her skirt, letting one finger dip into the newly cut slit, revealing her left leg from halfway down her thing to her sexy, strappy heels. She examined the neckline. Turns out, even though the dress came with straps, they were removable so that her dress could be strapless, which worked out nicely for her. The string of black pearls hung around her neck, accompanied by a newly purchased simple choker, adding to the va-va-voom factor she was going for.

Looking back in the mirror, she checked the smoky black eye-shadow which made her pale blue eyes pop. She slipped on the fingerless black gloves, checked her maroon finger and toe nails, and pushed her incredibly curly hair behind her ears. She was almost scared by the girl who looked back at her in the mirror. Her parents never let her look this alluring, they always made her look like a clean cut lady. But now she looked, dare she say it, sexy, which is exactly what she was going for. Smiling in pride, she grabbed her black clutch and headed downstairs. The three men were all waiting on her, rather impatiently it seemed, and all three of them were caught off guard by the sight.

"Bout time you showed-whoa!" Stan said. "Well, now we all know what was taking so long!"

"Ahem." Ford cleared his throat as he offered his hand to help Pacifica climb down the last few stairs in her giant heels. "You look very nice, Pacifica."

"Thank you," Pacifica answered before turning to look at Dipper. His jaw had almost dropped all the way to the ground. His eyes were as big as golf balls. His face was red as a tomato as he stared at her. Pacifica smirked in victory as she swaggered past him.

"Pacifica…you…"

"Well, come on, let's go." Pacifica said as she exited out the door, making she to swing her hair into Dipper's face on the way out. Dipper just stared after her, his entire body and mind captivated. She. Was. Absolutely.

 _Breath-taking!_

He couldn't help but watch after her as she flaunted her way to the car and slid into the back seat. The ride up to the university was quiet as Pacifica pretended to check her make-up in a compact, adjust the neckline of her dress, smooth out her bodice, making sure to emphasize her curves. Dipper, as ashamed of it as he was, could not take his eyes off her, which is exactly what she wanted. The minute Ford parked the care, she jumped out of the car.

"Let's rock and roll," she called cheerfully as she smacked Dipper in the face with her hair again and waltzed off. The three men stayed in the car for a moment longer. Ford cleared his throat before speaking.

"Dipper?"

"Hm?" Dipper finally snapped himself out of the trance Pacifica had trapped him in. "Oh, uh, yeah."

"Know that as your great uncles, Stan and I love you very much, and we will never abandon or turn on you. But, son, there's something we have to know."

"Okay?" Dipper asked.

"What on earth did you do to Pacifica?"

"I have no idea."

Both older men groaned loudly.

"What?" Dipper asked.

"Try to think, kid, what did you do?"

Dipper blushed, he didn't want to admit he'd kissed her, so he just answered with a very meek, "I don't know."

Both older men groaned again.

"Dipper?" Stan asked.

"Yes."

"You're screwed."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen:

Pacifica began coughing all over again as she shivered under her covers. Her entire body ached and shook from the pain and chills. Perhaps wearing a sexy black dress in the middle of December was not the best idea. That and the fact that she'd spent a good portion of the night outside because she didn't feel much up to the partying mood. And while Dipper had oogled over her the whole night, he'd made no effort to talk to her, making her plan to embarrass him fruitless. Now, to top it all off, she was stuck in bed with the flu.

Through the pounding of her head, she could hear the sound of her bedroom door opening. Cracking one eye open, she saw Dipper coming in with a bowl of soup.

"Still not feeling too good, hey?"

"Go away," Pacifica grumbled.

"You need to try and eat something," Dipper told her.

"I don't care, go away."

"I'll leave you alone in a minute. Just eat some."

"No," Pacifica picked up her head a bit. "Get Stan or Ford in here, but you go away!"

Dipper felt like a small knife had gone into his chest. "Look, Pacifica, I'm sorry I turned you down that one time on the ship, but please, can we just-"

"If you don't want to be with me because you wanna take it slower, fine," Pacifica said. "But then to go hook up with your old flame a few days afterwards-"

"What?" Dipper looked totally and utterly confused.

"I saw you two hugging and carrying along on the porch while I was upstairs trying to process through all of my burnt stuff. Did you not care what I was going through? Talking to her was just so much more important, huh? Still trying to fawn all over her, and I guess I'm just the side chick? You think-"

"Oh, no!" Dipper cried, setting the bowl of soup on the night stand and knelt to Pacifica's level. "No, that's not what it was Pacifica."

"Really? Because that's what it looked like to me."

Dipper opened his mouth to say something, then nodded, a sad look on his face. "Yeah, I can see why you'd think that. But that's not what it was at all."

"Then what is it? She is the girl you had a crush on for years, right?"

"Yes, but-"

"So what am I supposed to think of you hugging all over her while I'm processing being stabbed in the back by my parents?"

"I understand why-"

"Yeah, because you're just a man, right? Men will be men right? You just-"

"Pacifica-"

"-think you can play around with whoever-"

"Pacifica, let me explain-"

"-and because you have a-"

"Let. Me. Explain." Dipper's voice wasn't angry, just firm , and that caught Pacifica's attention enough to listen.

"I was going up to talk to you, but Wendy stopped me because she needed someone to talk to-"

"Or flirt with?"

"No, listen," Dipper told her. "do you know who Robbie Valentino is?"

"No."

"Well, he's a scumbag and Wendy's ex. A few months ago, they met back up and Robbie told her that he'd recently gotten divorced from Tambry and was looking for a fresh start. They began dating and everything went well until Tambry confronted Wendy in Lazy Susan's diner and dumped coffee on her. Robbie didn't divorce her. They weren't even talking about divorce. The minute Tambry found out about the affair, Robbie turned his back on Wendy and began badmouthing her to the whole town."

Dipper stopped to take in an angry breath. "And as if that's not all bad enough, three days later Wendy found out she was pregnant. And both Robbie and Tambry are denying it's his and refusing to help her."

Pacifica turned her face into the pillow. "Oh." Her face was turning even redder than before. Now she felt like an idiot. She should have known Dipper hadn't betrayed her. He was just being a good guy, as always.

Dipper stared at her. He was an idiot. He should have gone to her instead of just awkwardly hanging about, waiting for some kind of sign that it was okay to talk to her again. Reaching out a hand nervously he began to stroke her hair.

"I'm sorry I didn't talk to you that day. I should have. I got distracted, and that was wrong. You were in pain and needed me."

"She probably needed you too," Pacifica admitted.

"Yeah, but I still should have come to you."

"Why? You're not obligated to," Pacifica buried her face deeper into the pillow as she embarrassedly said the next part. "We're not a couple."

Dipper bit his lip and tapped his foot on the floor a few times nervously before whispering;

"We could be."

Pacifica turned and looked up at him with a hopeful gleam in her eyes.

"Really?"

Dipper slowly nodded, looking scared to death. "If that's what you want."

"What happened to me being too desperate and frazzled?"

"I'm not going to lie," Dipper said. "I'm still a little worried about you, but I trust you enough to make your own choice."

"Really?"

Dipper nodded again. "If you say no, I'll under-"

"Yes."

Dipper turned to her, hope sparkling in his eyes. "Really?"

"Yeah," Pacifica smiled and nodded.

Dipper smiled and nodded. "Okay."

The two grinned at each other for a while longer before Dipper timidly asked.

"What now?"

Pacifica chuckled. "Well, since I'm sick I won't ask you to hug or kiss me. But you can give me that soup now."

"Oh, right!" Dipper picked the bowl back up and pulled out the spoon. "Open up."

Pacifica grinned at him and let him feed her. She accidently dropped a few spoonfuls on herself, which Dipper wiped off with a rag, caressing her cheek as he did so, smiling at her.

Soon Pacifica started her hacking cough up again.

"I'm sorry," she sniffled before coughing again. "Real attractive, right?"

"Don't apologize," Dipper told her as he smoothed her hair out of her face. "You can't help that you're sick."

"Well, to be fair it is your fault."

"How's it my fault?"

"I wore that dress to get back at you and got sick from it."

"Get back at me? How is wearing a knock-out dress going to get back at me?"

"I was going to loudly turn you down in front of everyone when you asked me to dance."

"Oh, you evil, conniving, woman," Dipper playfully scolded.

Pacifica chuckled as he set the bowl aside and fluffed her pillow for her and helped her lie down.

"You really did look amazing, though."

"Thank you good sir," Pacifica whispered with a hoarse voice.

"You're welcome," Dipper told her as he tucked the blankets around her.

"So…" Pacifica asked. "Are you my boyfriend now?"

Dipper let out a nervous squeak. "If I'm not right this moment I probably will be soon."

"It's because I have the flu isn't it?" Pacifica yawned.

"Can you blame me?" Dipper laughed as she closed her eyes.

"It's still your fault."

"I don't know if I agree with that."

"Doesn't matter. I'm right."

"You're right?"

"Yes. Get used to it."

"Get used- is that a threat?"

"Maybe?"

Pacifica yawned and began to slip off to sleep. Dipper smiled as he stared at her for a while, then cautiously leaned down and kissed her forehead.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19:

 **AN: Who's up for a little Christmas in Summer? Well too bad, that's what you're getting I really should have planned the timing of this story out better.:/ But still, I thought you'd guys like a little fluff after all the drama of the past few chapters.**

Pacifica nervously peeked out of the corner of her hood as Ford drove down main street of Gravity Falls. Dipper reached over and took her hand in his.

"Don't worry," he assured her. "There's no way they'll know you're here. Besides they're probably not here. They're probably at some fancy ski resort in Europe-"

"Austria. The Northwests always go to Austria for the holidays."

"Well, there you go. They're in Austria, and we're in good ol' Gravity Falls."

Pacifica smiled a bit as she looked back out the window. "Do they always hang snowflakes off the lampstands?"

"Um…yeah?"

"Sorry, I've never been here for Christmas, remember?"

"Well," Stan cheered. "Get ready for fun, games, food, and booze."

"No! No booze!" Ford replied. "Not after the Christmas light incident."

"Hey! I told you not the bring that up!"

"Christmas light incident?" Pacifica asked.

"Stan got drunk and tried to light up all the trees outside the mystery shack."

"Dipper, don't!"

Dipper only grinned evilly at his Grunkle. "We found him two hours later hanging upsidedown by Mabel's sparkling pink Christmas lights from a giant Spruce…"

"Stop it."

"…in his underwear…"

"I'm warning you boy!"

"…singing "Hark the Herald Angels Sing…""

"DIPPER!"

"Only now God and Sinner aren't reconciled, they have good style."

By now Pacifica was practically hyperventilating on her laughter.

"Well, they do," Stan insisted, red faced. "I mean, not everyone can pull off those white robes."

Tears were streaming down Pacifica's face as she clutched her aching belly. "Oh my word! I almost want to see him get drunk now to see what he'd do next."

"I don't. Guess who got vomited on trying to get his idiot brother out of the tree," Ford grumbled as he pointed to himself. "This guy!"

Pacifica busted into laughter all of again.

"Wasn't that the same year Mabel got the eggnog and buttermilk mixed up?" Dipper asked.

"No, that was the year Blubs and Durland busted in thinking we'd kidnapped someone because Mabel's two idiot friends got themselves locked in the attic and were screaming for help," Stan corrected.

"What!?" Pacifica asked.

"We were doing the Jingle-Bell rock, how were we supposed to here 'em?"

Pacifica started cackling all over again. "Oh, gosh! So what craziness are you idiots going to cause this year?"

"Who knows, but stay posted, something's bound to happen" Dipper chuckled.

Pacifica shook her head as she settled back into her seat. Soon they pulled up to the Mystery Shack. Pacifica grabbed her bags as she stepped up to the door and knocked. Mabel opened up and cheered at the sight.

"Hi, Pacifica! Merry Christmas!" She tackled hugged, and nearly choked the lights out of her old friend.

"Good to see you too," she squeaked as Mabel finally let go of her.

"How you doing?" Mabel asked. "You look great! These goobers treating you right?"

"Yeah, I'm doing great," Pacifica nodded. "Everything's going fine."

"Yeah, you settling in well?"

"Yeah, it's-"

"Hey, Paz!" Wendy appeared in the doorway behind Mabel, dressed in an oversized green sweater that reached down to her knees and was bunched up at the sleeves. Underneath she wore black leggings with white snowflakes, and a pair of Uggs. She held a cup of eggnog in her hands as she leaned against the doorframe.

"Hi, Wendy," Pacifica stepped up to hug the older girl.

"You holding up?" Wendy asked as she leaned against the doorframe again.

"Yeah. You?"

Wendy nodded as she took a sip of her eggnog. "Yeah, I'm good."

Pacifica could hear rummaging from where she stood. Wendy checked before yelling.

"Hey, don't drink that eggnog, Soos," she called. "That's the only one I can drink."

"Oh, sorry, dude," Soos called from out of sight.

"Really?" Pacifica asked.

"Yeah," Wendy nodded a look of disgust on her face. "Virgin vegan eggnog. Sound delish, huh?"

"You're a vegan now?" Pacifica asked as she and Wendy stepped inside.

"Nah! Now way, bro. But raw eggs and alcohol isn't good for the baby, so I'm stuck with this muck," she took another sip.

"Is it any good?" Pacifica asked.

Wendy shrugged. "It's not bad, but not as good as the real stuff."

"Hey, Pacifica!" Soos busted into the conversation and engulfed Pacifica into a hug that lifted her off her feet. "I somehow missed you coming in. Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas to you too," Pacifica squeaked as Soos set her back down.

"First Mystery Shack Holidays, huh? You're gonna love this. We always got games, and karaoke, and songs, and gifts-"

"Stan hanging upside-down from a tree in his unmentionables," Wendy guffawed.

"That was one time, guys! One time!" Stan shouted out.

"Yeah, one time you're never going to live down!" Wendy called back.

"Oh, can it, sister! Hey, everyone's here, right?"

"How should I know?" Pacifica asked.

"We are," Mabel answered as she stepped into the room. "Grenda's spending this Christmas in Austria with her new hubby, and Candy's spending time with her boyfriend's family, and Ma and Dad are skipping for work again, so this is the crowd this year."

Pacifica let out a small sad "Hm," Mabel and Dipper's parents didn't even care to show up for Christmas with their children?

"Well, then why are we standing around here for, is it Christmas Eve or what? Let's play something!"

 **IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

Hours and hours of card games, board games, video games, and buckets of food later, Pacifica found herself lying in a bed in the attic, the room Dipper and Mabel used to stay in during the Summer. It was now Melody's room, but at this moment, Pacifica, Mabel, and Wendy were also sharing it with Melody. The three Pines men were sleeping in the master bedroom with Soos. Abuelita kept her room to herself because of how loud her C-pap machine was.

Pacifica tossed and turned a little bit. The trundle mattress was thin, so the hardness of the floor still snuck through. Wendy told her at the beginning of the night when Pacifica's tossing a turning started she could take the trundle, but Pacifica refused to let a pregnant woman sleep on the floor, and made her keep the spare bed. Melody kept her bed while Mabel slept in the trundle pulled out from under that bed.

Pacifica stared up at the ceiling. She could still see the faint outlining of graffiti on the ceiling from the twin's younger days (mostly Mabel's handiwork she assumed.) As the night dragged on, Pacifica felt a sudden jolt on the side of the mattress, and turned just in time to see Wendy dart off to the bathroom. Concerned, Pacifica followed after her and found her emptying all the Christmas goodies from earlier into the toilet.

"Are you okay?" Pacifica asked.

Wendy gave a thumbs up as she wiped her mouth off on a towel and flushed. She checked her watch and nodded.

"Yup, 3 AM," Wendy said. "I've been getting sick around this time like clockwork for about two weeks now, it usually goes away by 11."

"Anything I can do?" Pacifica asked as Wendy stood up and. She shook her head.

"Nope. I just gotta ride it out." She pushed her hair out of her face and then turned and looked at herself in the mirror. Wendy pulled her shirt up just enough to reveal her stomach. It bulged out only a little bit. If Pacifica hadn't known any better she would have thought it was just all the holiday food. Wendy rubbed the tiny bump as she stared at herself.

"Kid's already giving me trouble," she chuckled as she dropped her shirt back and smoothed her pajamas down. Pacifica gave her a small sad smile.

"I'm sorry the father's not helping you."

Wendy shrugged. "Eh, my baby-daddy lied and skipped out on me, Mabel and Dipper's parents barely acknowledge their existence, Soos has never met his dad, your parents used to beat up on you. We've all been through the ringer." Wendy chuckled again as she gave Pacifica a light punch in the shoulder. "But, at least we got each other, am I right?"

Pacifica nodded. "Yeah, I guess."

"It's kind of a good thing, though, that Robbie's not gonna be around, yah know?" Wendy leaned against the doorframe to the bathroom as she let one hand idly stroke her stomach. "I mean, if it's a boy, I don't want my son learning to treat women like that, and if it's a girl, I don't want her to get used to men treating her like that," Wendy let out a small, sad laugh before adding, "So she doesn't end up in the situation I'm in."

"So, you want to be a single mom?"

"Well, no. I don't think any woman grows up wanting to be a single mom, but given my current options…" Wendy shrugged. "Yah know?"

"You ladies doing alright?" A groggy Dipper appeared down the hall.

"Just having a little girl chat," Wendy answered.

"At three in the morning?"

"You've lived with Mabel your whole life, and you're going to start questioning feminine logic now?"

"Good point," Dipper shrugged.

"Well, I'll catch you all in the morning," Wendy said as she mounted the stairs and headed back to bed. Pacifica watched her go and shook her head in admiration.

"She's a tough cookie."

"She holding up okay?" Dipper asked.

"I guess," Pacifica shrugged. "I haven't seen her break down yet."

Dipper nodded. "She is strong, always has been. I hate that this has happened to her but, if anyone can handle this Wendy can."

Pacifica nodded and shuddered. "I can't imagine…I just can't…"

Dipper slipped an arm around her shoulders. "I don't think you'll ever have to."

Pacifica smiled as she turned and looked up at him. "Hey, technically it's Christmas."

"Yeah?"

"I've got something for you."

Dipper chuckled. "Can't wait a few more hours anymore, can you?"

Pacifica chuckled as a blush crossed her cheeks. "Actually, I got you two gifts and I only got one for everyone else, so I want to give this one to you while we're alone so I don't have to feel guilty about jipping everyone else."

"Aw, how sweet," Dipper said. "But I don't think anyone would mind."

"Actually…" Pacifica blushed even more as she took the gift out from under the Christmas tree. "this is also kind of personal."

"Should I be scared?" Dipper asked, lifting one eyebrow in concern.

"Not that personal!" Pacifica cried with a giggle as she handed the gift to Dipper, who smiled mischievously at her. He carefully tore it open and pulled out a small book with the words "Thank You" written on the front cover. Her opened it and found pages and pages of notes, pictures that looked like they'd been printed off facebook or a phone, and hand drawn sketchings. The first note read:

"Thank you for telling me that my ancestor was a fraud. I'd probably never realize how horrible my family is if you hadn't."

"Thank you for forcing me to look in the mirror and making me realize I was turning into a horrible person, so I could turn my life around."

Hand drawn comic strips of their younger, more tumultuous decorated the bottom of the pages. Dipper let out a small "huh." He wasn't even trying to help Pacifica then, he didn't even realize he WAS helping her. He was just being a bratty kid.

"Thank you for helping be bust a ghost."

"Thank you for showing me how to have fun."

"Thank you for being one of the first real friends I ever had."

Dipper flipped and read through the various pages until he reached the end.

"Thank you for being my shoulder to cry on."

"Thank you for being my life coach."

"Thank you for not judging me when I ugly cried over and over again."

"Thank you for not getting mad at me when I get jealous."

"Thank you for loving me."

Dipper looked back up at Pacifica in wonder. She was staring at her feet, twirling her hair, and biting her lip nervously. He gently put his arms around her, pulled her close and kissed the top of her head.

"You're welcome. You're always welcome."

"Oh, that was actually pretty smooth," Pacifica grinned. "You could be a real Romeo."

"Yup, that's me."

 **IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

"CHRISTMAS!"

Pacifica jolted out of her bed at the sound of Mabel jumping around the room and cheering.

"CHRISTMAS! CHRISTMAS! CHRISTMAS!" Mabel bolted down the stairs, the other three ladies following her. The four men were already seated around the table sipping coffee.

"Well, it's about time you got up," Dipper called. "We've been having to do everything we can to keep Stan from tearing into the gifts."

"LESS TALK MOR PRESENTS!" Mabel cheered as she rushed to the tree.

"Now that's my kind of girl!" Stan called as he joined his great niece at the tree. Soon everyone crowded around the tree and began opening their gifts. Deciding to join in the merriment Pacifica began to dig around until she found her gifts.

From Mabel, she got a grey barrette with a silk, pink rose attached to it. There was also a card with it. "I found this online. It's actually from France (that's where rich people get all their clothes, right)! Except the rose, I made that."

Pacifica smiled and set it on her head as she moved onto the next gift. There was a small bow with "from Stan" written in it. Inside there was a silver chain with a small diamond pendant hanging from it. On a small card in the box next to the necklace was written "not much, but I hope you like it." After setting the necklace around her neck she moved onto the next gift. There was an envelope from Ford. There was nothing but a card and a 100 dollar itunes gift card. "I didn't know what to get you, so take this and get you some party music, or a movie, or whatever you want.

There was a very large bag from Wendy next. Pacifica tore the tape holding it shut to open it and she pulled out a purple leather trench coat with faux fur around the collar, edges, and sleeve cuffs. Pacifica gasped. A note was tacked to the coat. "Some of the places the Pines men go, you're gonna need a good coat. Hope this works for you!" Pacifica slipped it on. It was warm, and it looked ravishing on her if she did say so herself.

The other gifts she received was a beach set of white sunglasses, flip-flops, floppy hat, towel, and beach bag from Soos, a manicure kit from Melody, and a cook-book from Abuelita. In the first page of the cook-book was a note that said "this is to teach you easy recipes instead of all those fancy dishes the rich folk eat." Pacifica laughed at the thought that Abuelta thought she learned to cook at all! But she would be sure to use the cook book now.

As she went through the gifts, she realized that she hadn't gotten anything from Dipper. She frowned in confusion, she must have missed it, surely he hadn't forgotten her. But as she looked under the tree there was nothing there.

"Looking for this?" Dipper asked from behind her. She turned and found him standing behind her with a black velvet bag in his hand. "I gave my original gift for you to you after the…well…the fire incident, so I had to come up with something new, and I didn't have time to wrap it."

Pacifica took the bag and gave him a fake glare. "Well, it better be good then."

"I found this in the Caribbean on my first trip with Ford and Stan."

"This isn't going to be a coconut or something like that isn't it?"

"No, just look," Dipper laughed.

Pacifica and opened the bag, and gasped. Inside was a gold tiara with diamonds and pearls arranged in a floral pattern. Gold leaves accented the gems as they shone in the ground.

"I found that while investigating a ship wreck looking for mermaids."

"It's beautiful," Pacifica gasped. "It's…it's too much…"

"Of course not," Dipper said as he took off the barrette from earlier and set the tiara on her head. "Every princess needs a tiara."

"Princess?" Pacifica chuckled.

"Well, yeah," Dipper said. By now everyone was headed to the kitchen for breakfast. Alone, Dipper whispered.

"I also got you this," he pulled an envelope. Pacifica opened it and found a package of sewing patterns for baby christening outfits. Pacifica was about to ask what they were for when Dipper answered.

"I know your prom dress means a lot to you, and you don't want to get rid of it even though it's been damaged. So, when you have children, you can use these to make outfits for them out of the material."

Pacifica gasped. "Oh…Dipper, thank you…I…I…" she chuckled as her eyes grew misty. "I've got to add all of this to the book."

Dipper chuckled, pulled her into a tight hug, and kissed the top of her head.

"YES!"

The two young people jumped as Ford raced back into the room. "We got it"

"Got what?" Pacifica asked.

"We got the clear to go on the trip I've wanted to go on for years!" Ford cheered. "Folks, we're going to Japan!"

 **AN: So the exploring, adventuring stuff will come back soon! Also, I'm trying to come up with pet names for Pacifica and Dipper if you guys want to help out and give me suggestions. Right now for Pacifica to call Dipper I have: Romeo, Eye Candy, Babe, and Big Shot. For Dipper to call Pacifica I've got: Princess, Pretty Girl, Sweet Heart, and Precious. So, you guys got any others?**


	20. Chapter 20

**AN: Sorry if this chapter sucks, I am writing this at the Little Mermaid show tech rehearsal whenever I'm not on stage. (If non of y'all have ever been through a tech rehearsal they are an awful necessary evil) so it might feel a bit jumbled.**

Chapter 20:

"Oh!" all three of the Pines men cried as the two sumo wrestlers tackled each other in the rink. Pacifica covered her eyes, when they said they were going to spend a day in Tokyo upon arriving, watching two fat guys belly bump was not what she had in mind. The crowd of people pushing on her and cheering was also adding to the uneasy feeling. Suddenly, one of the wrestlers charged towards the other's neck.

Suddenly Pacifica wasn't in the arena, she was back in Northwest Manor, and her grandfather, a rather chubby man, had her in a chokehold because she'd dropped her juice box on his new tux. The rest of her family watched on and laugh, thinking the old man's outburst was amusing.

Pacifica abruptly stood up, and walked out of the stadium. Out on the busy sidewalk, she tried her best to clear her mind. It had been four months since she had severed ties with her family, and yet they were still tormenting her. It was ridiculous and she was sick of it! She felt a soft touch on her back, and turned to see Dipper standing behind her.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, just-"

"Not a sumo wrestling person?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah, me either. Want to get some sushi?"

Pacifica smiled brightly. "Sure."

"Alright, let me go tell them we'll meet them on the boat." Dipper slipped back inside the arena to inform his Grunkles on the change of plans.

 **IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

Her stomach full of sushi, Pacifica waited in the Tokyo metro, her hand clasped safely in Dipper's as they waited for the metro to take them to the downtown area to do some shopping, Pacifica's idea of course, but Dipper didn't seem to mind. As they stood hand in hand, Pacifica noticed they were the only ones there, which she found odd considering she was in one of the, if not the biggest city in the world.

"Dipper?"

"Hm?"

"Isn't this weird?"

"What weird?"

"That there's no one else here…"

"It's late at night, remember we're still on American time, remember?"

"Still…"

As Pacifica mused over this, she heard a quiet noise, like a woman crying.

"What is that?" she asked.

"I don't know," Dipper answered as the sound grew louder, "But I hear it too." He clutched Pacifica by her waist and pulled her closer to him. The crying noise grew even louder, and a young woman appeared in the tunnel, clutching her stomach and sobbing. Dipper let Pacifica go and walked to the edge of the platform.

"Miss, are you alright?"

The young woman looked up at him with bloodshot eyes.

"Do you speak English? Hablas Español? Señorita?"

The woman began to walk towards him.

"Can I help you?"

As she approached, Pacifica spotted something listening behind her back. Pacifica squinted to see what it was, and her insides grew cold.

"Dipper, look out!"

She snatched Dipper backwards just as a scythe landed where his head had been. The young woman's eyes turned black, her face changed into a skull, her hair became matted and dead looking and her legs disappeared to reveal a floating torso covered in blood. The creature swung her scythe at the two again.

"Move!" Dipper pushed Pacifica to one side and jumped to the other. The scythe landed between the two of them.

"Run!" Dipper shouted. Pacifica took off towards the steps that led back up to the street. She heard a high pitched scream, and turned to see the creature chasing after her. She jumped over the railing, the tip of the scythe grazing against her thigh. She crashed against the concrete scraping up her knees and hands. She jumped up on her feet quickly and rushed across the platform, she soon found a bench and ducked underneath it. It wasn't the best hiding place, but it was all she could do.

The creature floated past her, crying out for her prey. Pacifica shuddered as she scooted deeper under the bench. She couldn't see the monster, but she could hear it snarling and hissing above her. Her breath hitched. It was only a matter a time before she got caught. She had to run, but there was no way for her to sneak out from under the bench without being seen.

Suddenly the monster appeared right in front of her face, screaming. She raised her scythe, and a looming grey shape appeared in front of her, and a bright white light blinded her. She closed her eyes, waiting for the slice, but it never came.

"Pacifica!"

She opened her eyes and found Dipper lying next to her shaking her.

"Are you okay?"

"What happened?"

"Silver mirror," Dipper held up a compact that was currently screaming. "I started carrying one with me after the incident at your place when we were kids."

Pacifica sighed in relief and all but collapsed on the ground. Dipper pushed her hair back out of her face.

"Are you alright? She didn't-Oh my gosh, you're bleeding!"

Pacifica looked down at her scraped hands, knees, and gashed thigh. She groaned and let her head fall against the pavement.

"Why's it always me?"

Dipper chuckled. "C'mon, let's go back home and get you patched up."

"But I wanted to go shopping!" Pacifica whined.

"I'll make it up to you later," Dipper promised as he began guiding her out from under the bench.

 **IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

"Ouch, that hurts!" Pacifica whined as Dipper poured peroxide on her hands and balled them into fists.

"It'll hurt worse if we don't clean it," Dipper sighed as he opened her hands again and began wiping them with a clean rag. Pacifica hissed, but didn't recoil. Once he was done ridding her wounds of the dirt he wrapped the scrapes up in gauze. He looked down at her bloody and torn leggings and blushed.

"Um…How do you want to do-"

Pacifica rolled her eyes and discretely slipped them off under her dress. Dipper's eyes grew wide and he turned away, red faced.

"I wasn't implying-"

"Oh, c'mon, you can't see anything," Pacifica sighed.

Dipper looked nervous, but shrugged and then poured some peroxide on a rage and began cleaning her knees. Pacifica winced at the pain, but didn't move. He placed two giant band-aids on the scrapes.

He hesitated as he stared at the gash on her thigh. Knees were one thing but this…this was kind of…intimate. Was she going to be okay with this? Was he going to be okay with this? Well, he wasn't trying to put any moves on her or anything, he was just fixing up a cut. So he patted the peroxide rag along the cut.

"What did this?"

"What do you think, that psycho ghost with her scythe. Are you sure you-"

"Yes, I got rid of it," Dipper said for about the hundredth time as he began to ponder. That close? The ghost had gotten that close to kil-seriously injuring her. Dipper placed a band-aid over the wound, then gripped her waist. Pacifica looked at him with a frown of confusion, what was he up to.

The way her nose crinkled up made him grin. She was so cute! And he got so close to losing her. Cupping her chin in his hand, he leaned forward and kissed her. Pacifica squeaked slightly in surprise, but the closed her eyes and melted into the kiss. They hadn't kissed each other since that awkward night travelling back to Mexico. This kiss wasn't as out-of-control or sloppy as those two had been. It was soft, tender, cautious. They parted, and gazed at each other.

Then Dipper stood up, scooped Pacifica into his arms and planted another, more passionate kiss onto her lips. Pacifica sighed and ran her fingers through his hair.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" Pacifica tumbled to the ground as Ford appeared a threw himself between the two young people. "You two may legally be adults, but this is my boat, and will not have you two behaving like a couple of undisciplined, love struck kids."

"We weren't going to-" Dipper tried to explain.

"You!" Ford grabbed Dipper by his ear, "I need to have a word with you!"

He dragged Dipper into the office as he cried "ow, ow, ow, ow!" all the way there. Pacifica watched them go, helpless and a little scared. Stan was leaned against the doorframe, grinning widely, he began to swagger below deck, murmuring "bow chicka wow-wow, chicka wow-wow," under his breath.

 **IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

"Alright, Dipper, enough is enough!" Ford threw Dipper into his desk chair and crouched over him. "Cards on the table, what is going on between you and Pacifica."

"I don't know."

"Well, you better figure it out!"

"Grunkle Ford, nothing happened-"

"Nothing happened! You were practically eating her face!"

"It wasn't that intense."

"Wasn't it? Dipper," Ford slumped into his chair as he rubbed his face. "Believe it or not, I was eighteen once, and I know how it is at this stage. Pacifica is a very pretty girl, and I understand we're in sort of tight confides, but-"

"It's not like that Grunkle Ford," Dipper sighed.

"Then what is it like?"

Dipper sighed. "I'm not just in this because of hormones or good looks or what not. I care about Pacifica…a lot. What's happening between us…I don't know, I'm still trying to figure it out, but I want to find out. And I'm not going to hurt her, I swear, after what happened to Wendy…no way, I'm not doing that to hurt. At least not until we're married…if that's where this is going, but if not-"

"She's not in an emotionally stable place now, Dipper, she's-"

"I know, I've thought of that, and I tried to keep my distance. But you saw what happened at the Christmas ball-"

"Oh, that's what that was!" Ford sighed as he face palmed. "Dipper…"

"I know, I know, but, I talked to Wendy, and I decided Pacifica's a grown woman, and if she thinks she can handle this, then-"

"Wendy hardly seems to be the person for practical advice."

"Grunkle Ford, I promise, I'm not taking advantage of Pacifica. I love her, I would never hurt her."

Ford gave him a look, and Dipper realized-

He'd just said he'd loved her. He loved her!? Well, did he-

"Just be careful, son," Ford sighed.

"I will be."

"And if I hear of you disgracing her in any way, so help me-"

"You won't, I promise you won't!"

"I better not, now go to bed."

Dipper raced out of the office and headed downstairs. He ran his hands through his hair. What was he doing? Where was he going? Was he just supposed to wait and see.

He hated waiting.

"There he is!" Dipper turned and found Stan racing towards me.

"Look at you! Got that girl wrapped around your finger. That's my boy! You're a regular Casanova! You, you, you-"


	21. Chapter 21

**AN: half of this was written on my phone because, yeah, Little Mermaid, so forgive any errors.**

Chapter 21:

"C'mon, guys, we're going to the beach to hunt for sea monsters," Ford called as he banged on the bedroom doors down the hall. Pacifica was already awake, trying to figure out what to wear over her bathing suit. She could wear one of the sundresses Dipper had gotten her in Mexico, but she wasn't in the mood for those. She was in Japan, not Mexico, after all.

Another knock came on her door.

"Okay, Ford, I'm coming, just give me a minute."

"It's me," Dipper's voice answered.

"Oh. Well, come in."

Dipper pushed open the door. He was already wearing his swim trunks, and a t-shirt, and he had a bag slung over his shoulder.

"You about ready?" he asked.

"Almost, I'm just trying to figure out what to wear.

"I dunno, I think you look good in what you've got on now," Dipper said slyly as he looked over her in bathing suit.

Pacifica glared at him and snatched her pillow off her bed to toss at him. He chuckled as he ducked.

"Okay, okay, in all seriousness," Dipper said as he pulled something pink out of his bag. "How about this?"

He held out a light, silky, pink kimono robe with white cherry blossom design decorating it.

"Oh," Pacifica gasped as she took it from him. "It's beautiful, where'd you get it?"

"I couldn't sleep last night, so I went for a walk, and passed by a street vendor," Dipper answered.

Pacifica put the kimono on and twirled around in the mirror.

"Thanks, Babe, I love it," she said as she tiptoed to kiss him on the cheek.

Dipper jumped slightly at the gesture, put on a goofy grin, then realized what Pacifica had said.

"Wait, 'Babe?'"

"What, do you not like it?" Pacifica asked.

"No, no, it's fine," Dipper answered. "I just didn't know we were at that point."

"What point?"

"You know, pet names, nicknames, stuff like that."

Pacifica chuckled and shook her head as she took his hands in hers.

"You think too much, Big Shot."

"Hey, I can't change who I am…Princess?"

Pacifica giggled as Dipper blushed as pink as he kimono.

"Sorry, that was cheesy."

"No," Pacifica chuckled as she shook her head. "No, I like it."

Dipper let out a small sigh. "Good to know. Sweet Heart."

Pacifica giggled again and let Dipper give her a small hug.

"Okay, we should go before Ford starts wondering what's going on and goes nuts again."

"Oh, he didn't get you in trouble last night, did he?" Pacifica asked.

"Nah," Dipper shrugged. "Just wanted to make sure I wasn't playing around with your dignity or anything like that."

Pacifica dug her toes into the sand of Uchiura Beach as she looked out over the crystal blue water.

"Okay, let's get do to business-" Ford began, before Stan cut him off.

"To defeat, beach bums!"

Ford grumbled as Pacifica and Dipper snickered behind their hands.

"C'mon bro, we're at the beach!" Stan slapped Ford over the shoulder. "Let's kick back a little bit."

"I've been pulling strings to get us here for months, now, and I won't have it wasted! We are expected to rbing back as much evidence, footage, and discoveries as possible-"

"Dipper already caught a scythe wielding ghost lady, we're already ahead of the curve, let's relax a bit."

"One find isn't going to make the cut, Stanley."

"One day isn't going to hurt our efforts."

"We had that one day yesterday."

"And Dipper caught a ghost, so it doesn't count-"

"C'mon, let's go," Dipper whispered to Pacifica, and he took her hand and led her down the beach. Pacifica giggled as she left the two older men to quarrel against one another. They didn't say anything, they just walked in comfortable silence, scanning the beach and water for anything abnormal. As they strode across the sand, she kicked something. She leaned down, and picked up an odd shaped sea shell.

"Does this count as supernatural?" she asked jokingly.

"Probably not," Dipper chuckled, "but I don't see why we can't keep it."

He took it from her and put it in the bag. They continued walking around, looking for any abnormalities, and occasionally picking up a seashell or two. They soon came upon a patch of sand that had hundreds of opaque, colored stones.

"Dipper, what are these?"

"Sea glass," he answered. "They're kind of common around here."

"They look like gems."

"I guess a little bit."

"Can we take these too?"

She turned and looked at Dipper, but he was gazing at something else.

"Dipper?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah, here, put them in the bag, I'm gonna go check something out."

He handed Pacifica the bag. "Do you need help."

"Nah. Go on, collect you sea gems, Princess."

Pacifica giggled as she began to toss handfuls of sea glass into the bag. As she went about her collecting, she heard a loud scream.

"Pacifica, help!"

Pacifica dropped the bag and raced over a dune in the beach to see Dipper trying to fight off a large, royal blue blob, with red eyes, tentacles, and razor sharp teeth that were digging into his arm.

Pacifica looked around until she found a piece of driftwood. She picked it up, charged towards the beast, and began whacking it over the head until it let go of Dipper's arm. It fell to the ground, turned to her, growled, and charged towards her. She hit it again, and again, and again, and again, and-

"Okay, okay, you've got it," Dipper grabbed her by the waist and pulled her away from the monster. He winced as he did so, and Pacifica turned to see his bleeding, shredded arm.

"Are you okay?" she asked as she dropped the driftwood and examined the wounds.

"Yeah, I think so," he said. "I just need to clean it up. There should be a first aid kit in that bag."

Pacifica nodded as she raced off to fetch the bag. She snatched it off the ground and nearly toppled over at the weight. She managed to hoist it onto her shoulder with much grunting and and straining and carried it back to Dipper.

He was on his hands and knees, hovering over a hole in the sand that he had his head stuck into. Pacifica sighed as she shook her head.

"Now what am I supposed to do if a monster bites your head off in there?"

Dipper looked up at her with a grin.

"What? Don't you trust me?"

"To safely stick your head into a mysterious hole next to a monster corpse? No."

"Whatever, come here and check this out."

"Why do you think I went and got this for?" Pacifica pulled out the first aid kit.

"Not my arm, this," he pointed to the hole.

"And let your arm fall off?"

"It'll only take a minute, look," Dipper whined.

"Fine," Pacifica sighed as she got on her hands and next to him. She peeked into the hole. There were several remnants of cracked blue and purple eggshells and tiny trail marks leading out of the hole.

"This was a nest," Dipper explained. "And that was the mother."

"Aw, now I feel bad for killing it."

"Well considering it was gonna take my arm, I'm not. Besides all the eggs have hatched."

"Then why was she still guarding it?"

"I dunno."

"Okay, I looked at your nest, now gimme your arm."

Dipper winced as she yanked his arm to her and poured some peroxide on it. She cleaned it up with some gauze and wrapped it in a bandage.

"Okay, now let's pack all this up, take it to the boat, and research it a bit. And then…" Dipper slipped his arms around Pacifica's waist. "I think I promised to take a certain Princess shopping."

"Hm," Pacifica sighed. "That sounds like a fantastic plan."

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Why do you need a parasol?" Dipper asked later that day when they had dressed and gone shopping.

"Because it's cute?" Pacifica answers as she twirled said parasol over shoulder.

"Yeah, but why?"

"Because I said so."

"Y'know, that Princess nickname is really starting to fit."

"Hey, you knew what you were getting yourself into by dating me."

"Touché."

Pacifica smirked in victory as she closed the parasol and added it to the cart. Something else then caught her eye, and she raced over to a shelf of stuffed animals and baby onesies.

"Aw, how cute!" She squeed. "The sleepers match the plushies!"

"Um, shouldn't we get married and do the procedures needed to make a baby before we start shopping for one."

"'The procedures needed to make a baby?' Only you could make sex sound as dull as a step by step manual. Besides, it's not for us, it's for Wendy."

"Oh," Dipper nodded.

"Let's see...when will she find out if it's a boy or girl?"

"Not until we've left."

"So gender neutral, okay. Let's see...Totoro, Pikachu, Squirtle, and the cat bus whose name I can never remember."

Dipper chuckled as he helped put said gift sets into the basket.

"Let's see, what else can we get…"

"Maybe we should call it a day, it's getting dark after all."

"Aw, you're such a killjoy," Pacifica whined.

Even though she was trying to be pouty, Dipper couldn't stop smiling at just how adorable she was. He kissed the top of her head.

"Some other time, Pretty Girl."

"Aw, now you're ahead of me by one in nicknames."

"I'm sure you'll even the score," Dipper sighed as he guided her to the check out. They bought their goods and then began the journey home.

"Okay, let's see what we've got for dinner," Dipper said as he set his bags down and ventured into the kitchen, Pacifica following suit. They finally decided on making ham, eggs, and biscuits.

Pacifica opened the flour a little too roughly, and spattered some of it on her face. As she coughed and sputtered, Dipper snickering at her. She frowned at him.

Suddenly a crash came from the living room. Curious, the couple wandered to inspect what was going on.

"Did you leave that there?" Dipper asked spotting the parasol on the coffee table.

"No…"

Dipper went over to put the parasol back in its place, when it suddenly revealed to have two eyes, and sprouted arms and one foot. It squealed and took off hopping, knocking Dipper over in the process. Pacifica screeched as the umbrella raced down the hall.

"What in the-"

"You would pick out a living umbrella!" Dipper cried as he chased after it, Pacifica in tow.

The umbrella raced into Ford's room and began jumping on the bed, laughing hysterically. Dipper tackled the the umbrella down. Pacifica wanted to help, but Dipper seemed to have or under control. As she stood there awkwardly, she notice a door at the back of the room. She peaked in and saw a small hall with a door on either side. She looked in them both and found two small rooms with a bunk bed each.

"You didn't tell me Ford's room had two bunk rooms attached."

"You're bringing this up now?!" Dipper cried. "Get something to trap it in."

A raspberry sound came from the other room.

"Why does an umbrella need a tongue?" Dipper asked as Pacifica yanked a blanket off one of the beds and came running back into the main room. She tossed it over the umbrella and then helped Dipper wrap it up. One person holding each end, they carried it back upstairs.

Just as they reached the top of the steps, they saw Ford and Stan standing in the living room.

Ford stormed over to them as they reached the top.

"What did I say about wasting time? Now we're even more behind because you two were too twitterpeted to get anything done!"

"We did get stuff done, just give us a minute and we'll-"

"I'm not hearing it Dipper! You know how demanding the university is! Now, you'd better give me a good explanation, and stop fooling around with that blanket!"

"Don't" both young people shouted, but a little too late.

The umbrella spring out of the piece of fabric and bounced off into the kitchen and office area.

"What on earth?"

"Catch it!" Pacifica squealed.

"Way ahead of you, kiddo!" Stan shouted as he darted after it. The four chased the taunting parasol all around the yatch as it hopped atop cabinets, and under beds, taunting and chortling at them the whole time. Stan finally grabbed it by the top, and held it firm as it opened and closed itself in an effort to get away.

"Get something to lock it in!" He cried.

"Got it!" Dipper said as he raced into the hall with a dog cage.

"Why doctor guys- why am I surprised anymore?" Pacifica asked as the three men locked the umbrella inside. It blew raspberries in protest.

"So there you go," Dipper said. "A living umbrella! And if you go into the lab, you'll find an already preserved sea monster, and a pile of eggshells that, yes, are currently being tested for DNA, chemical makeup, and other traces of whatever might be there. Good enough for you?"

"You still didn't have to go gallivanting into the city-"

"Oh my gosh!" Dipper sighed. "We already got more done today than we usually do in a week, and what have you done exactly?"

"Found a deteriorations megalodon body a few inches below the surface in a bay, and brought back-"

"Nope!" Pacifica announced. "I already killed a demon octopus, patched up my boyfriend's arm, and chased an umbrella for 45 minutes! I'm not cleaning guts off more shark teeth! I'm done!" She slammed her door behind her.

"Yeah, I think I'm done too," Dipper huffed as he began to head towards his room.

"Wait, we need to talk," Ford said.

"Why, do you can tell me how lazy I am some more, even though I did more than you today!"

"Not just that-"

"Oh, so more one my 'misconduct' with Pacifica? I already told you we're not doing anything undignified. We didn't even make out today!"

"And how many times have you made out?"

"Three."

"Three!? I saw the first and you told me about the first. But when was this second?"

"Chill out, bro," Stan said. "They're 18. I'm surprised they haven't reached 30 yet."

"Thank you!" Dipper cried as he slammed his door behind him.

"Ford, in all seriousness, take a chill pill," Stan told his brother when the two young people were gone.

"No! He's too young and moving too fast!"

"They've been crammed together in a ship or house for five months, dating for two, and have only kissed three times. Sounds about right to me."

"Stanley, need I remind you-"

"No, you don't need to. So what if Ma and Dad had a horrible marriage? So what if Dipper's parents hate each other? So what if I've been divorced twice? So what if your dream girl broke your heart? It don't mean nothing! At least give the kids a chance, Ford!"

"I'm not suggesting history is going to repeat its-"

"Yeah, you are."

"I'm just looking out for them!"

"They're 18. They're adults. They gotta look out for themselves Ford."

Stan began to walk to his room.

"Besides, they're smart. They know we're too cramped in here for them to go sleeping with each other and us not hear it! So chillax! You need me, I'll be chatting with Mabel."


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22:

"Blergh!"

Pacifica sat straight up at the strange sound. She heard it again, coming from Dipper's room. She jumped out of bed and raced across the hall. She found Dipper hovering over the toilet in his bathroom, emptying his stomach into it. Pacifica raced to his side, setting a hand on the back of head.

"What's wrong?" she asked as she felt him shivering.

"I'm not sure," Dipper answered in a hoarse voice, rubbing his forehead. As he raised his arm to his face, Pacifica noticed the bandage on his arm. Gently taking his arm into her hands, she unwound the bandage and gasped when she saw that the bite mark was purple, and puffy, and oozing.

"Oh, no," she gasped. "I think that sea creature was poisonous."

"Oh, terrific," Dipper groaned as his teeth began chattering.

"What's going on?" Ford asked in an accusing tone as he stepped into the bathroom. His condescending demeanor disappeared at the sight of the bite.

"You didn't tell me you were bit!" he shouted.

"I didn't know it was poisonous," Dipper explained.

"It still would have been nice to know!" Ford shouted.

"Well, if you hadn't been yelling at me for being lazy maybe it wouldn't have slipped my-" Dipper broke into a hacking cough.

"What's going on-" Stan yawned as he stepped inside, then his eyes grew wide. "Whoa, what's wrong son?"

"He got poisoned by that sea creature," Pacifica explained.

"Well, where's the antidote?" Stan asked.

"There isn't one," Ford answered.

"Well, then find some magic potion or healing stone," Stan said. "There's gotta be something!"

Ford suddenly got an idea, and ran out of the room. Pacifica followed him out of the room and into the hall.

"Hey, where are y'all going?" Stan asked as they raced up into the office. Ford began flipping through files, books, collection, and journals. He finally pulled a page out of a file and nodded.

"This is it," he said as he handed the page to Pacifica. There was a picture of a creature who looked like a shell-less turtle standing on its hind legs with a bowl imbedded in its head.

"This is a Kappa. The water it carries in its head has healing properties. This water is what we need to help Dipper."

"Okay, let's go," Pacifica said as she raced back downstairs to get dressed, grab a flashlight, and a water bottle. Before going back upstairs to meet Frod, she slipped back into Dipper's room. Dipper was lying back in his bed, Stan hovering over him with a cool compress. Pacifica sat on the side of the bed and held his hand, running the fingers of her other hand through his hair.

"Hey, Princess," Dipper smiled at the sight of her.

"We're gonna take care of you," Pacifica said. "We're going to find something to heal you. You'll be okay."

"I know," Dipper said. "Go do your thing, I'll be waiting."

Pacifica smiled. How could he be so calm? He was literally dying from poison, and he wasn't even scared. He had full confidence in her and Ford to save him. He trusted her with his life.

Pacifica leaned forward and kissed him. He kissed back, but weakly.

"I love you," she whispered.

"Love you,too," he answered. "Now go do what you've got to do."

Pacifica smiled, kissed his forehead, and walked out. Stan watched her go a faint smile on his face.

"Wow. I don't know how you did it, but that girl really does care about you."

"Yeah," Dipper chuckled. "I'm a lucky, lucky dog."

He began hacking again, and Stan patted his back. "There you go. They'll getcha fixed up, just take it easy until then."

"Sure, take it easy and chill while dying, got it."

 **IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

Pacifica tapped her feet on the floor of the train as she and Ford rode out to the country to find a river to look for a Kappa.

"Can't this train go any faster?" she asked as she crossed her arms and trembled in fear.

"It'll be okay, Pacifica, we'll get the Kappa water back to him in time."

"He was fine all day. He was fine! How could his health go south so quickly!"

"That sea monster you found is currently undocumented, so we're not sure how the venom works."

"So how do you know that we'll get back in time?"

One glance at Ford's told Pacifica the truth. He didn't know. He had no idea if Dipper would be dead or alive by the time they got back. Pacifica curled into a ball of fear. They'd only been together for about a month, and now she could lose him.

"We're here," Ford finally said as the train stopped. He and Pacifica raced off the train. They ran three blocks down from the station to the river and began searching the river banks for a Kappa.

"Be careful," Ford told her. "The Kappa's can be easily scared off."

Pacifica nodded as she went in one direction and Ford went in the other. She shone her flashlight over the the ground in front of her, looking for the reptilian like creature. Her heart rate was skyrocketing, her breath hitched in her throat with each inhale. The idea of losing Dipper was more than she could bear. She couldn't think about it! She just had a focus on finding a Kappa. Tears were rolling down her face as she plowed forward.

"I will save him. I will save him." she kept repeating to herself as she pushed through brush and tripped over rocks, not noticing the numerous scrapes and cuts she was getting.

 **IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

Dipper groaned as he clutched his stomach. His head was throbbing, his stomach was burning, his skin was cold and clammy, he was sweating out of every pore of his body. In short, he was miserable.

Stan hovered over him, rubbing his back, wiping sweat away, doing everything he could to make Dipper as comfortable as possible. Dipper barely noticed, as he rocked back in forth, groaning in pain. His arm was swollen to twice its normal size. Stan covered it in cold, wet rags, trying to get the swelling to go down.

"You're gonna be okay," Stan told him. "They be back before you know it with the medicine."

To be honest, though, Stan wasn't sure. Dipper was getting worse by the minute. He hoped, he prayed, that Ford and Pacifica would get back in time, but he didn't know.

Dipper coughed again, into his hand, and when he pulled away, there was blood staining his palm. Dipper collapsed against the bed, discouraged, as Stan just stared, distraught.

"Oh, hurry up guys," Stan begged.

 **IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

Pacifica stumbled again and fell into a mud puddle. She stood up, wiped her hands on her pants and took off again. As she turned a bend in the river, she stopped and ducked into the grass. A Kappa stood near the river, eating water plants. Pacifica gasped. This was it! This is what she needed to save Dipper. Carefully she began to creep towards the creature, trying to be as quiet as possible so as not to startle it.

She accidently stepped on a stick. The Kappa looked up, cried out in fear, and began to run away…

...on top of the water.

"Oh, no you don't!" Pacifica dove into the water and chased after the Kappa. She rushed towards it until she grabbed it's ankle. By now she was waist high in the water, but she didn't care. She pulled herself up and climbed up the Kappa's back as she thrashed and rocked. Clawing at her arms, scratching her. It tried to bite her, but it could reach her arms around her neck. Pacifica unscrewed the top of the water bottle and dipped it into the bowl mounted on the top of the Kappa's head. She could only fill the bottle up a third of the way before the Kappa knocked her off. She held the bottle high so it would spill and sloshed back to shore. She screwed the top back on, and reached for her phone to call Ford. The phone, however, was waterlogged and glitching. Deciding she didn't have time to try and fix it, she raced back to the station, she hopped on the next train to Tokyo and shook the whole way back, not minding the strange looks she got from her wet, dirty, and bloody state.

 **IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

Stan was shaking from fear. Dipper was practically unconscious, barely responding to anything around him, and gasping for breath.

"Hurry up, guys, hurry up!"

"Dipper!"

Stan turned, hopeful, as a muddy Pacifica, covered in leaves and grass and bleeding from various cuts, busted into the room, carrying a partially filled water bottle.

"Dipper?" Pacifica asked in a hushed scared voice. Dipper grunted faintly at the sound and slowly tried to open his eyes.

"Here," Pacifica unscrewed the top of the bottle. "Drink this."

She held the bottle top to his lips. He slowly responded and she gently poured the contents down his throat. When the bottle was empty, he closed his eyes and his mouth and became very still.

"Dipper?" Pacifica asked, breathless at the sight of him so still, so silent. She cautiously leaned an ear onto his chest, and broke into joyful tears. His heartbeat was there, strong and proud. Dipper breath grew steadier, deeper, and healthier. The sweat stopped pouring off his body. His trembling ceased.

"I think it's working!" Stan cheered. "Good job, blondie!" He slapped her on the back. Pacifica winced, but was too happy that Dipper was going to be okay to really respond. She clutched his hand in hers, kissing his fingertips as he slept.

"He'll be fine now," Stan assured her. "Go get some rest."

"Not on your life," Pacifica shook her head. "I'm not leaving him until he wakes up."

A thought suddenly popped into her mind. "But, could you call Ford for me? My phone's kind of dead."


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23:

 _Smack! SMACK!_

Pacifica fell back against her bed, holding a gloved hand to her bloodied nose.

"Don't ever disrespect the Northwest family name like that ever again! Your little scene back there was bad enough, it's gonna take a while to remove that blemish from our reputation."

Pacifica choked back a sob. They didn't care! They were really doing this. They were throwing her away like a piece of furniture to regain their money and reputation.

"Now, you're going to back down there, and you're going to accept Zachary's proposal."

"No, I'm not!" Pacifica turned around and angrily faced her father. "I'm not going to-"

 _SMACK!_ Pacifica's head swirled as she tumbled off the bed and clutched her throbbing forehead.

She picked her head up and found herself locked in a closet.

"Let me out!" she banged against the door, begging to be set free. A sizzling sound sent chills down her spine. She turned and saw her fathers clenched hand, a smoldering cigar clasped between his fingertips. She turned to run away, and ran right into the arms of her mother, forcing her into restricting and painful girdles, forcing her to be her pretty little model.

"I told you the theme was sea foam green, not lake foam green. Now go and change!"

"But I like I-"

 _Ring-a-ling-ling!_

"Yessir."

The party ended. The "rif-raf" was gone, and she heard a crack over her head, followed by a swift kick to her knee, buckling it in the wrong direction. She cried, and reached her hands up, fighting off her father's attack…

…someone grabbed her from behind, holding her close.

"Pacifica. Pacifica…"

 **IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

"…Pacifica."

Pacifica opened her eyes and found that she was in Dipper's room. She hand fallen asleep on a cot Stan had brought her after she'd saved Dipper, but she was no longer on the cot, but in Dipper's bed. In his lap to be exact.

"It's okay," he whispered as he held her closer. "It was just a dream."

"What are you doing?" Pacifica asked.

"Um…comforting you," Dipper answered.

She shook her head. "You nearly died last night. I should be comforting you, not the other way around!"

Dipper smiled and ran his hand over her hair. "I'm fine now, Pacifica."

Pacifica hung her head, still ashamed that she couldn't even be strong the day after her boyfriend had almost died. Man, she was a pathetic girlfriend! Dipper set his hand under her chin and tilted her face back up.

"You're not okay, though, are you?"

"I'm fine," Pacifica brushed him off, how. "How are you?" she looked down at his arm. It was bandaged up and looking a lot better than it had last night. He looked a lot better. He looked like Dipper again.

"Pacifica, I'm fine," Dipper pulled her back into her arms. "How are you?"

"Fine, I'm not the one who almost died."

"Pacifica, be honest with me."

"I am being honest, it was just a nightmare. I'll be fine."

"Will you be?" Dipper questioned. "You sure you don't need to talk about it?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Well, talk about it anyways."

"I don't need to talk about me, I need to take care of you."

Dipper giggled a bit, as he kissed the top of her head. "You already took care of me. You saved me, I'm going to be fine. So let's talk about you."

"But that's all we ever do. Don't you ever want to talk about yourself?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Nothing to talk about. Besides, you already know everything."

"I'll bet that's not true," Pacifica pushed his hair out of his eyes.

A silence fell over the two. Pacifica leaned her head on Dipper's shoulder and he held her, stroking her hair.

"So, are you okay?" Dipper asked.

Pacifica sighed as she snuggled closer against him, and he held her tighter.

"You were dying," she whispered. "I thought I was watching you leave me right in front of me. I thought-"

"But I didn't," Dipper assured her, burying his face in her hair. "I'm still here."

"I know, I just…" Pacifica closed her eyes and held him tighter.

"You just what?"

"I don't know if I can handle this," she answered.

"Handle what?"

"Losing you."

"But you didn't lose me."

"But I almost did."

Dipper kissed her cheek.

"I lose you, I won't have anyone else left."

"That's not true," Dipper answered. "You've got the rest of the gang."

"But they're not you," Pacifica stated. "After everything else I can't lose you."

"Everything with your parents?"

"Yeah, that, and…I guess adjusting to all this…"

"You know they can't hurt you anymore, right?"

"I'm not scared of them anymore," Pacifica answered. "I'm just…angry…"

"Angry?"

"I'm still having nightmares. I still have scars on my back. I'm still having flashbacks. Whenever we go back home I have to look over my shoulder. All because of the them. So, yeah, I'm angry!"

A short silence fell over the two before Dipper ran his fingers through her hair again.

"Well, you have reason to be."

"Am I always going to be that way, though? Will I always be this angry?"

"Well, if anyone can pull of the 'I hate the world' look, it's you."

"Not helping."

Dipper chuckled a bit, and kissed the top of her head. "It's up to you, Pacifica. You decide if you want to stay mad at them or not."

Pacifica sighed and snuggled closer against him. Another silence fell over the two.

"Where are Ford and Stan?" Dipper finally asked. He moved to get it up.

"No, I'll go look, you stay in bed," Pacifica insisted as she pushed him back into the bed.

"I'm fine, Pacifica," Dipper assured her. "I'm perfectly alright."

"Not taking any chances," Pacifica insisted as she stepped outside of the room. She looked in all the bedrooms, and then went upstairs. One the coffee table in the living room, she found a note.

 _Dipper and Pacifica,_

 _Stan and I decided to give you two a break. After last night, I think you both deserve a break. We'll be back tonight. Rest up, and don't do anything stupid or disgraceful!_

 _-Ford._

Pacifica set the note down, and decided to fix breakfast for her and Dipper…only she didn't know what she or Dipper wanted. So she went back downstairs to Dipper's room to ask him, and found he wasn't in bed.

"Dipper?"

"In here!"

Pacifica race into the bathroom and found Dipper slathering shaving cream onto his face.

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

"Um, shaving?" Dipper answered.

"You're supposed to be in bed."

"Pacifica I'm fine."

"No, you're not!"

Dipper sighed and wiped the shaving cream off with a towel. "If I wasn't alright-" he whirled around, and scooped her into his arms bridal style, and began to spin her around.

"Would I be able to do this?"

"Dipper, stop it!" Pacifica chuckled. "Even if the venom is gone, you still hurt your arm."

Dipper tossed her slightly into th air and then caught her again. "What were you saying about my arms?"

"Stop it! Put me down!" Pacifica begged. Dipper complied and kissed the top of her head.

"You don't have to worry about me anymore, Pacifica. I told you, I'm fine now."

Pacifica brushed herself off. "I just don't what you to over do it."

"I won't," Dipper promised. "Now, how about breakfast?"

Pacifica smiled and nodded. "Sounds good."


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24:

 **AN: Sorry it's taken me so long. I won't go into too much detail but I've been going through some personal stuff. Nothing bad, just trying to plan and prepare for the future and graduation in a few years so, yeah, I'm not going to quit writing this story, I'm just a bit busy. But, anywho, here you go. It's not as good as I wanted it to be but, it is what it is.**

The next month in Japan went by without anymore near death experiences, much to Pacifica's relief. Their ship was already loaded with all sorts of pictures, footprints, DNA samples, and other such things, and they were still going! They were now staying in Osaka, looking for the pearl of a dragon that was supposed to be located somewhere just outside the city if Ford's calculations were correct, and they always were, dragon pearls just happened to be hard to find apparently.

Pacifica rubbed her eyes as stepped into a shop to buy some takoyaki for the ride back. The three men were outside a few blocks away, talking about changes in tactics and such. She was just ready to go to bed. The stars were already shining bright in the sky, but not in her dreary eyes.

She paid for her food and stepped out of the shop. She began to walk the route back when a voice came from behind her.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't my runaway bride?"

Pacifica's heart sank as she whirled around. "Zachary?"

"Good to see you again," he smiled. "How about a kiss for old time's sake?"

He reached for her, she slapped his hand away. "Are you serious?"

"Y'know, when' your parents told me that you'd runaway, I did not think that they meant all the way to Japan," he glared scarily at her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I'm on vacation," Zachary answered. "What are you doing here? Having to clean out trash cans to make a living. We both know the Northwests didn't provide you with any skills."

"I'm on a paranormal investigation team, thank you very much," Pacifica snapped back.

Zachary laughed. "So you hunt scary bedtime stories for a living?"

"Better than hunting Mom and Dad's good side."

"I could have gotten you out of that if you'd stuck around for the wedding, but no, you just had to go and ruin everything," Zachary rolled his eyes. "I really was ready to marry you."

"But I wasn't ready to marry you," Pacifica answered.

"We could have gotten you ready."

"I didn't want to get ready. I didn't-don't want to get married unless its by someone of my choice."

Zachary shook his head angrily. "You were everything I wanted, too."

Pacifica sniffed. "You don't even know me."

"You're pretty, petite, blond, and rich, what else is to know. Well, you were rich."

Pacifica seethed, and turned around to walk off.

"Running away from me again?"

"Yup."

"Not even going to give me an explanation?"

"I did. I didn't want to marry you and had no other way out."

"I think you owe me more than tha-"

"I don't owe you a thing!"

She rounded a corner and saw Dipper standing with his back to her, facing Stan and Ford. She ran up to him, turned him around, and kissed him fiercely on the lips. Dipper grunted in surprise, but kissed her back, setting his hand on her waist.

"Oh, I see how it is."

Dipper pulled away to see who was yelling at them. Pacifica also turned and looked back at Zachary.

"So you're Rose and he's Jack, huh? Rich girl falls in love with a poor boy!"

"Who's this?" Dipper whispered to Pacifica.

"The guy my parents tried to force me to marry."

Dipper pull her closer to him.

"Well, you do know what happened to Jack, right?"

"Hey!" Stan rushed towards Zachary. "You ain't making threats around here, punk!"

"Back off, old man," Zachary sniffed. "This is between me, my fiancé, and her side boy."

"I'm not your fiancé!" Pacifica shouted. "Do you see a ring?"

Dipper smirked in victory as he gave Pacifica a kiss on the top of her head.

"Get your filthy mouth off my woman," Zachary shouted.

"She's not you're woman," Dipper said. "She's her own person who just happens to be my girlfriend."

"She is mine, her parents gave me permission to marry her, and you stole her!"

"I didn't steal her, she came and asked us to help her leave."

"She was engaged to me, though. She had a responsibility to me."

"No she didn't. She has no responsibilities, obligations, or anything else that she owes to you. You're just a guy her parents like. You are nothing to her."

Zachary punched Dipper in the face, or tried. Dipper didn't even fall back, he just flinched, and rubbed his sore face. Zachary tried to punch Dipper again, but he caught his arm and tossed him aside. Pacifica reached up to check on his throbbing face. She gently pried his hand away from his cheek. There was a bruise forming, but nothing other than that.

Zachary jumped onto Dipper's back and latched onto his neck. Dipper tried and shrugged him off, Ford and Stan grabbed one of Zachary's shoulder each and pulled him off of their nephew.

"Alright, that's enough of that," Ford said as he and Stan started to drag him off. Zachary began kicking a squirming.

"Let me go!" Zachary cried. "I must defend my honor."

"Yeah, I don't think fighting like a drunk pussy is going to help you achieve anything."

Zachary finally broke free of the two grunkles and picked up a stray brick on the side of the road. He held it above his head and charged towards Dipper.

Pacifica screamed, and reached to put herself in between the two men, but Zachary pushed her aside, accidently knocking her to the ground and scraping up one of her knees. Dipper dodged the blade, grabbed Zachary by the wrist and threw him against a building, pinning him to the outer wall by jamming his knee into Zachary's back.

"Someone call the police," Dipper called as he restrained Zachary.

"Stop taking cheep shots and fight me like a man!" Zachary cried.

"Oh, shut it!" Stan slammed his fist into the wall next to Zachary's head. Pacifica set her hands on Dipper's back anxiously, just wanting to make sure he was okay and not wanting to be far from him with Zachary apparently trying to kill him.

It only took a few minutes for the police to arrive and hustle Zachary away. Once he was gone, Dipper slipped his arm around Pacifica's shoulder and they walked back to the Stan-o-War together.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Pacifica asked.

"I'm fine," Dipper assured her. "Just a small bruise. I don't think your old friend will be though. I'd say his actions could land him about, oh, I don't know, two years in jail maybe?"

Pacifica smirked in victory at the thought at first, but the it made her realize something that made her heart sank.

"My parents are friends with his family. They're going to hear about this. They're going to know I'm in Japan!"

Dipper's eyes grew wide at the realization. "That's right."

"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! What are going to do?"

"Don't worry about it right now," Dipper assured her. "We've got time to figure this out, you'll be fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Pacifica, I promise you, I'm not going to let them hurt you."

Pacifica took a deep breath and nodded. Dipper kissed her forehead and they continued on.


	25. Chapter 25

***Rises from the ground in the puff of smoke*** ** _I LLLLLLLIIIIIVVVVVVEEEEE!_** **Hi guys, so sorry it's been so long since I've updated this past semester has been CHAOS! Word from the experienced, never, ever, EVER take 18 hours, perform in two plays, four student films, and maintain a serious relationship at the same time. You will drive yourself mad! But the Christmas break is here, and I have returned, so here's a new chapter.**

Chapter 25:

Pacifica stared up at the ceiling, chewing nervously on her hair. Though she tried not to, she was worried to death about what this would mean for her. She knew it wouldn't be long before her parents knew she was in Japan. As her stomach tied itself in knots she curled into a tiny ball, hugging herself and rocking back and forth. Tears threatened to fall, but she held them back.

A small knock came at her bedroom door.

"Come in," she answered.

The door opened and Pacifica felt a small brush against her cheek. She turned to look up at Dipper, and he just let his lips brush from her cheek to kiss the tip of her nose.

"How's my princess?"

"How do you think?"

"Fair enough," Dipper pulled her into his lap and began to weave tiny strands of her hair into small braids.

"So here's the plan," he explained. "Since your parents will be coming to Japan soon…"

Pacifica shuddered.

"…you and I are going to go back to Gravity Falls."

"Really?" Pacifica sniffed. "That's the best you can come up with?"

"Well, we figured you'd rather hang out with Mabel and Wendy than just being lonely in Maryland."

"You guys aren't going to me?" Pacifica's voice quavered as she asked.

"I will be, but Stan and Ford are going to sat here and finish out the investigation."

"I'd be with you in Maryland, then," Pacifica hooped him on the nose. "Not lonely."

"True."

"So…we can go to Maryland instead?"

"I kinda already told Mabel we're going there."

"UGH!"

"Hey," Dipper caressed her cheek. "It might do you some good to be around the old crew. They all miss you, y'know. And a little familiarity can't hurt with all the drama you've gone through these past months."

"I think I prefer the drama to my 'familiar.'"

"What are you so scared of?"

"That someone will spot me there and tell my parents."

"You're parents aren't exactly the most liked people of Gravity Falls anymore, I think you'll be okay."

Pacifica began chewing on her hair again. Dipper gently pulled the strand from her mouth and planted a kiss upon it. "If this doesn't work out we'll go to Maryland."

Pacifica sighed, "Okay."

"Poor girl," Ford sighed as he finished purchasing the plane tickets for Pacifica and Dipper.

"Yeah, and I thought our family growing up was crap."

"Hm," Ford drummed his fingers on the table. He looked to the stair case leading to the bedrooms. Standing up he walked downstairs.

"Hey, where ya going?" Stan asked as he followed his brother. They went downstairs and peaked into Pacifica's room to find Dipper and Pacifica laying on her bed, video chatting with Mabel, Wendy, Stan, Melody, and Abuelita.

"So, where are Grunkle Stan and Fordsy?" Mabel asked.

Ford chuckled at the nickname. He'd told Mabel multiple times to not call him that, but of course she didn't listen.

"We're right here," Ford answered as he and Stan walked into the room. "We were just coming down to check on you kids."

"DON'T MOVE FROM THAT SPOT!" Mabel ordered as she disappeared off screen. "Wendy, get in the middle."

"I think they'll figure it out without me front and center."

"OBEY THE GLITTERY MASTER OF SURPRISES!"

"Okay, dude, sheesh," Wendy stood up, exposing her small baby bump, and moved to sit where Mabel had once been.

"Alright I'm in position."

"SOOS, RELEASE THE NOISE MAKERS!"

Soos popped open a series of noise makers that shoot confetti into the air, balloons and more confetti rained down from the ceiling, probably Mabel's doing.

"Now for some remix music," Soos added as he pressed a button and dubstep music began playing as strobe lights filled the room. All of the lights, balloons, and confetti was blue.

"Whoa, Wendy, does this mean-" Dipper began before Wendy cut him off.

"Yeah, dude, I'm having a boy, bros!"

"Congratulations!" everyone cheered as Wendy smiled.

"I even started on making him sweater onesies!" Mabel shoved her knitting into the screen to prove her point. Wendy frustratedly pushed the yarn out of the way.

"So, do you have a name picked out yet?" Dipper asked.

"Sure do," Wendy answered as Mabel giggled happily behind her hand.

"Well, what is it?" Stan asked. "You can't just say that and then not tell us what it is!"

"Well, what's the fun if I don't make you squirm a bit?" Wendy asked as everyone chuckled. "It's Lucas."

"A good, solid name," Ford nodded.

Wendy smiled and nodded before continuing. "Lucas Stanley Corduroy."

Pacifica, Dipper, and Ford gasped as they all turned to Stan, who had tears in his eyes. "You really mean it?"

"Yeah, man!" Wendy nodded. "Listen, dude, you've been awesome to me throughout all these years. Better than my old man even, especially since I've gotten pregnant. You've always taken care of me, even if you acted like I was a pain in the butt, which I probably was. It only makes sense that I'd name my little guy after you."

Stan wiped his face on the bcd of his sleeve. "I'm honored, Wendy, I really am."

"No sweat man, you deserve it."

Dipper checked his watch. He was still waiting for the time change. Yeah, waiting excitedly for a time change. That's what happens when you're stuck on a plane for 22 hours. The were only 12 hours into it, but Pacifica had fallen asleep, her head pillowed in his lap. Dipper was entertaining himself by watching a cartoon on his screen. It was something about a ladybug superhero with a black cat sidekick. Kind of childish, but very well done and a lot of fun.

Pacifica shifted slightly in his lap. He smiled down at her and ran his fingers through her hair. She was so cute when she was asleep. Every now and then she would hum in her sleep, or crinkle up her nose as she moved. Dipper sighed as he watched her. He drew her closer to him. He could get used to this. Watching her sleep and holding her close as she slept. Talking to her everyday. Going on investigations together. Comforting her. Letting her comfort him. Just being with her. Forever.

Wait a minute…was he talking about marriage?

He jumped slightly at the thought. He looked down at her. Yes, he could see himself spending the rest of his life with her. But then again he could imagine spending his life with someone else, couldn't he? Everyone had several different option for soul mates right? Because there was no way there could only one person for everyone. That margin of possible error was just too…

…actually, no, he couldn't imagine being with anyone else. He stared down at Pacifica. No, even with the other girls he'd had crushes on, while he'd really liked them, he couldn't imagine how life would work out with them. But with Pacifica…it was easy. Really easy actually. In fact the thought of them together just felt…right.

He wasn't ready now, though. No, no, no! Not even close. And he was sure she wasn't either. It hadn't been that long. Besides, living your whole life with your two great uncles wasn't an ideal way to spend a marriage…

…he definitely had to plan some things out before going there, but still.

Pacifica Elise Pines. That had a nice ring to it.


	26. Chapter 26

**AN: Sorry for yet another delay, I know most of you don't want to hear anymore excuses, but for those few of you who are curious I've had a hard month. Pretty much had a group of people who claimed to be my friends turn their backs on me, and then blame me for the following fall out. I'm doing better now, but I wasn't in a good place to write earlier, so, again, sorry.**

Chapter Six:

Pacifica hummed to herself as she and Dipper walked through the Tokoyo airport. Though she still felt very uneasy, she was feeling a bit better. Better, but still not great. She let out a sigh and Dipper squeezed her hand.

 _Where does this end?_ She though to herself. _I can't keep running like this._

As she slowly began to lose herself in her thoughts, she didn't even notice the two lofty people running up behind her.

"There you are!"

Pacifica's insides grew cold, as she whirled around and found her father and mother running towards her.

"You are in a world of trouble young lady!" her mother screamed.

Pacifica froze. She couldn't run. Couldn't scream. Couldn't even tremble. She felt as solid and cold as a glacier as the two most terrifying monsters she'd ever faced raced towards her. Thankfully, Dipper was anything, but frozen, and flung himself in between her and her parents.

"Don't you dare!" He thundered.

"Out of the way peasant!" Preston sniffed as he tried to push Dipper out of the way, but the younger man didn't move. He tried again, but Dipper still wouldn't budge. Her mother tried to reach around her and grab her, but with one swift movement, Dipper swept her away and began backing her into a corner, blocking access to her and her tiny sanctuary with his own body. The Northwests glowered at him and both began beating him with their fists, trying to get him to move. Pacifica screamed.

"No, don't hurt him! Dipper, move! Don't let them-Please, move!"

But even to his own girlfriend's please he would not budge. Pacifica sobbed and pushed against his back, trying to break out of the protective barrier he'd placed her in to relieve him of the pain he was enduring, but her small frame was no match for Dipper's tall personage.

Shouts rang out from behind the Northwests and a group of security guards appeared and dragged the two maniacs away. Despite being bruised and having a bloody nose, Dipper stood tall, glowering at them as they were dragged away. Pacifica peeked out from behind him, wide-eyed at the spectacle.

"How-"

"I don't know. C'mon," Dipper grabbed her hand and began leading her away. "We've got a flight to catch."

As Pacifica trotted to keep up with her angry boyfriend, the same thought as earlier swirled around in her brain. _Where does this end? where does this end?_

Taking a deep breath, and nodding her head she made her choice. _Now is where it ends._

"PACCY!" Mabel cried as she lunged at Pacifica the minute the blond girl stepped out of the bus and onto the Gravity Falls bus station. Pacifica nearly stumbled over, if it hadn't of been for her tall boyfriend to lean against she probably would have hit the pavement.

"ARE YOU OKAY!? WE SAW THE FOOTAGE, IT WAS HORRID, ARE YOU OKAY!?" She looked up from where her head was buried in her friend's shoulder, and looking up at her brother. "Oh, hey, Dipper, you look fine."

"Really?" Dipper sighed. "No concern for your bro-bro?"

"My bro-bro who has taken on a mech, army of gnomes, ghosts, triangle demons, and school bullies and still lived to tell the tale."

"Fair point."

"Footage?" Pacifica asked.

"Yeah," Mabel answered. "The footage of your parents attacking you and Dipper. It's been all over the news!"

Pacifica let out a sigh of relief. "Good."

"Good?" Mabel questioned.

"It's evidence."

"Evidence?" Dipper now questioned.

Pacifica pulled out the notebook she'd been scribbling in all through the plane and bus ride. "For my case. I'm charging my parents with child abuse, child neglect, domestic abuse, battery, forced marriage, and stalking."


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27:

"Miss Northwest," Pacifica's lawyer, a tall, greying old woman stood and offered her a seat as she entered her office. "How are you feeling today?"

"Alright," she answered.

"So, I have reviewed your case, and I must be honest-"

Pacifica sucked in a breath at the statement.

"Given how much time has passed in this case, it will be very hard to convict your parents of all charges. Not to mention the power your parents have in the community."

Pacifica let out a shaky breath and nodded her head. She'd suspected as much.

"There is another option, however," her lawyer.

"Yes?"

"Your parents have offered you a plea bargain."

Pacifica blinked, but didn't respond.

"Your parents are willing to plead guilty to child neglect and stalking in order to escape jail time. They are willing to pay you a fine of up to a million dolls-"

"No."

"I'm sorry?"

"No," Pacifica repeated. "I know what this is. They're not winning this time. They won't control me again. This is my time."

"Will the plaintiff call their first witness to the stand?"

Pacifica let out a shaky breath as walked up to the stand, swore herself in, and took her seat. She held her head high, refusing to look anyone directly in the eye as she told her story, all of it. She was afraid she'd break down into tears if she did. She did cry a few times, but not to the point that she couldn't speak. She'd only pause for a moment, suck it in, and continue. Once she'd finished her story, the cross examination began.

"Miss Northwest, you said you took some money before you left?"

"Yes sir."

"Where did you get the money from?"

"My account."

"That was set up in your parents name?"

"No, it was set up in my mind, my parents were able to put money into it, but it was my account."

"So you were dependent on your parents before you left their care?"

"You could say that."

"Then you got a real job and moved out?"

"Yes."

"How much does that pay?"

"Enough."

"But not as much as you were used to?"

"It was an adjustment."

The Northwest's lawyer nodded. "Your parents did not approve of this new job, correct?"

"No."

"So they cut you off, refused to put money into your account anymore?"

"Yes sir."

"Were you upset about this?"

"Honestly, with everything else that was on my mind I didn't even think about the money."

"Has it been hard on you, Miss Northwest, going from the privileged to the working class."

"In some ways yes."

"Are you sick of it?"

"No."

"You don't wish to go back to the glitz and glamour of high society?"

"No."

"Come now, Miss Northwest, you swore to be honest."

"I am being honest."

"You haven't missed the money at all?"

"I turned down a million dollar plea deal, that should tell you how much I value the money."

The lawyer nodded. "Perhaps, but you say you were physically and emotionally abused for years. What proof do you have."

Pacifica glanced down at her lawyer, who nodded. She stood and shakily removed her blazer, revealing a low bad tank top laying bear all of her scars. Head held high, she walked in front of the jury, showing the white circle marks and gashes all over her back.

Following Pacifica's testimony came Soos, then Mabel, Stan, Ford, and finally Dipper. He glared at the Northwests all through his testimony, but kept calm, answering all of the questions in a cool clear voice. Pacifica glanced around the room. Video cameras from all over the country were recording the case. It was good, juicy news. Two popular socialites accused of abusing their daughter for a lifetime. Oh the scandal!

The lawyers went back and forth with evidence and then , the jury disappeared to deliberate.

The old gang went back to the mystery shack to wait for the jury to come to a conclusion. As they waited, Pacifica sat in the living room, watching coverage. Some labeled her as a abused victim, others said she was a spoiled brat who wanted mommy and daddy's money.

"One, claims you're lying," Dipper corrected as Pacifica muttered to herself. "And it's the nut news station. Everyone else believes you, you'll be fine. They will be convicted."

"Thanks, love," she whispered.

Dipper smiled, nodded, and sat next to her and slipped her arm around him. "I'm proud of you, Pacifica." He said. "It took a lot of courage for you to stand up and do this."

Pacifica shrugged. "I was just tired of it all. Tired of being afraid. Tired of running. Tired of hiding. I want to be free."

"You will be free," Dipper said. "You're going to have a great future. I'll make sure of it."

Pacifica smiled at him and snuggled closer to him. Within a few minutes she fell asleep. The stress of the day bearing down on her. Dipper scooped her into his arms and carried her to what used to be his old, summer home bed. Dipper tucked her in, then watched her for a moment. How was it that the girl he once despised with a burning passion he now would do anything to protect? He crossed his arms and rocked back and forth on his heels. He'd been considering it for a while, but now, seeing her strength, her courage, her willingness to fight, he was sure. Tip toeing down stairs, he hunted Stan down.

"Hey, Grunkle Stan, can you help me with something?

"Pacifica?"

Pacifica opened her eyes to find Dipper leaning over her. "The jury is in."

Pacifica nodded shakily and got up. The ride back to the courtroom was quiet and intense. Pacifica was trembling as she sat down in her place.

"Has the jury come to a conclusion?"

"Yes, sir, we have."

"Please read the conclusions."

"For Preston Northwest in the charge of child abuse, we the jury find the defendant, guilty."

Pacifica let out a choking cry of shock. Dipper held her tight, squeezing her tight in victory as they continued to listen.

"For Preston Northwest, in the charge of child neglect, we the jury find the defendant, guilty."

"For Preston Northwest, in the charge of forced marriage, we the jury find the defendant, guilty."

"For Preston Northwest, in the charge of battery, we the jury find the defendant, guilty."

"For Preston Northwest, in the charge of stalking, we the jury find the defendant, guilty."

 _Gulity. On all charges. Guilty._

Tears of shocking joy began welling in Pacifica's eyes until she remembered her mother had not been convicted yet.

"For Priscilla Northwest, in the charge of child abuse, we the jury find the defendant, not guilty."

Pacifica began crying. No! No, no, no, she was so close!"

"Hang on, hang on, they've got four other charges to read," Dipper consoled her.

"For Priscilla Northwest, in the charge of child neglect, we the jury find the defendant, guilty."

Pacifica let out a sigh of relief. At least there was one.

"For Priscilla Northwest, in the charge of battery, we the jury find the defendant, guilty."

"For Priscilla Northwest, in the charge of forced marriage, we the jury find the defendant, guilty."

"For Priscilla Northwest, in the charge of stalking, we the jury find the defendant, guilty. Such is our conclusion your honor."

Cheers erupted from the gang. Tears of joy rolled down Pacifica's face.

She was free! She was free!


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28:

Nearly a month after the trial, the sentencing was to come in just a few hours. Pacifica was not worried about it now, however. She was currently on her way to the hospital, to meet the newest member of her new little family. A blue bag of pacifiers, diapers, and onsies in one hand, and a blue "it's a boy!" balloon in the other. She and Dipper slipped out of the truck he was borrowing from Soos for the time they were in Gravity Falls and walked into the hospital, into the elevator, and down the hall to the maternity ward.

Dipper knocked on the door and the two slowly creeped in. Pacifica was practically beaming with excitement.

Wendy lay on a bed, her hair sprawled out on the pillow, a tiny blue bundle in her arms.

"Hey!" Pacifica squealed as she ran over to her friend's bedside and hugged her. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been drawn and quartered from the waist down, and weak as spaghetti noodles from the waist up..." Wendy quipped before smiling. "I'm fantastic!"

"Is this Logan?" Dipper asked as her crept to the other side of the bed.

"This is him," Wendy beamed in pride as she pulled the blankets back to show off her new son.

"Aw, he looks just like you!" Pacifica cooed while silently thinking _thank goodness!_

"You guys want to hold him?" Wendy asked.

Dipper took him first, and Pacifica suddenly got dizzy at the sight of him cradling a baby close to him and rocking Logan back and forth. _As if he couldn't get anymore attractive,_ she sighed to herself as she watched on hungrily. After a few minutes Dipper handed him to her.

Now it was Dipper's turn to feel a little flushed at the sight. Pacifica took to holding a baby as if she herself was a mother, and it made him feel only more sure of his plan for that evening. After a few moments longer of cooing and rocking they had to slip out to go to the sentencing.

The butterflies began returning. Hopefully this would be the last time she would ever have to face her parents, and she could not wait to get it over. Pacifica and Dipper took their seats in the court room. In a few minutes the rest of the gang with the exception of Wendy and baby Logan. A few minutes after that, Preston and Priscilla were led into the room, clad in handcuffs and prison jumpsuits. Once the judge has called her up Pacifica stood to make her final statements.

"Mom. Dad. I don't even know if you deserve to be called those names, but that is all I know you as. And that's what's tragic. you were supposed to protect me. Care for me. Nurture me. Encourage me. Love me. But all you did was abuse me. Manipulate me. Neglect me. Belittle me. And use me. I was nothing more than a trading pawn and show item to you. I was never a daughter to you. But despite how little you thought of me, it did not make me less of a person. The only ones who's worth was shrunk by this was you. Both of you. You're not worth my tears. You're my pain. You're not worth my time. you're not worth my thoughts. I didn't want it to end this way, but you left me no choice. So, good bye. You don't have to worry about me, though I don't think you will anyway. i will be fine, now that I am away from you."

Preston and Priscilla glared at her as she took her seat, but she did not cower or bow her head in anyway.

"Please stand for your sentencing," the judge ordered.

"Preston Northwest, it is a man's job to protect his family, and you failed in the most horrendous way possible. For a father to abuse his own child is an act I will never understand. Priscilla Northwest, you may not have delivered the blows or put out the cigars on your child, but you stood by and watched. And that, in my mind, makes you just as guilty. However, the court only found you guilty of child neglect. Therefore, Preston Northwest I am sentencing you 25 years behind bars and to pay a $7,000 fine. Priscilla Northwest I am sentencing you to 15years in jail and to pay $7,000 fine. Such is ordered."

And with the bang of the little hammer thingy, the two criminals were led away. Pacifica let out a sigh of relief. 15-25 years was enough. More than enough. She couldn't help but skip out of the courtroom. The weight of the world had been lifted off her shoulders. She leapt into the truck and Dipper took off. When they arrived at the Mystery Shack there were vehicles covering the entire front lawn.

"What's going on?" Pacifica asked, noticing to boom of bass coming from the house.

"You'll see," Dipper said as he opened her door for her and helped her out of the car. He took her hand and led her into the main room where they were immediately met with Stan shouting over a sound system.

"MYSTERY SHACK PARTY!"

"What is this?" Pacifica asked.

"Well, after all the stress, we though a party would be good to shake off all of those remaining nerves. C'mon!"

Pacifica just beamed.

"Come on, Princess, the dance floor is calling us!"

After about an hour of dancing on the dance floor with her boyfriend, and an occasional interruption from a fist pumping Stan or Mabel doing the, well, Mabel, Dipper took Pacifica by the hand and led her to the front porch.

"Say, Pacifica, remember how we first met?"

Pacifica blushed. "Yeah, me making fun of Mabel at a Mystery Shack party."

"Yeah, and remember what I said to you the night we made the plan to help you escape, right here on this porch?"

"You said you'd take care of me."

"Yeah, and, well," Dipper nervously shoved his hands in his pockets. "I meant that then, but I mean it even more now. I love you Pacifica, and I want to take care of you. Forever. If..if you'll let me."

Pacifica's heart skipped a beat. "What are you saying?"

Dipper turned to her, and smiled, though he looked terrified, just before he knelt down on one knee. Pacifica gasped as she clapped her hands to her mouth. He pulled out a black velvet box, opened it, and present her with a ring in the shape of a tiara. Several small diamonds lining the swirls of the crown, and one large diamond sitting in the center.

"Pacifica Northwest, how do you feel about changing your last name to Pines."

Pacifica jumped up and down with excitement, happy tears rolled down her face, and she answered "YES!"

 **THE END**

 **AN: *sigh* well all good things must come to an end. Thank you so much for reading, and commenting, and just being awesome. I hope you loved this story from beginning to end.** _ **Remember! Reality is an illusion, the universe is a hologram, buy gold, BYE!**_


	29. Chapter 29: THANK YOU GUYS!

This isn't a chapter. This is just a giant, humungous, gigantic THANK YOU!

OVER 150 FOLLOWERS!

HOLY SMOKES GUYS, YOU ARE ALL AMAZING!

I NEVER DREAMED THAT THIS STORY WOULD HAVE SUCH A HUGE RESPONSE!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

You guys are awesome, and incredible, and I love you guys! Thanks for the reviews, thanks for the support, thanks for everything!

If you guys want more Dipcifica, I have two other Dipcifica fics. Don't feel obligated to read them, you guys have already done enough for me with just this story, but I now feel obligated to give you more Dipcifica stories because y'all are so awesome and you seem to enjoy them so least I can do is give you more of what you want.

The Color Pink is a series of one-shots leading up to the wedding: s/12527362/1/The-Color-Pink

Little Pine Seed is about Dipcifica having their first baby: s/12822073/1/Little-Pine-Seed

 **AGAIN, THANK YOU ALL SO SO SO SO SO SO MUCH!**


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